The Shadow of the Moon
by WiseGurrl17
Summary: WOW. I finished this fic on the 2 year mark... Is THAT something or WHAT! Sorry for the caps... OC story about a half blood teenager, Shailene who finds a love written in the stars It's my first fic, and the sequel's in the works! Finished! R&R- WG17
1. My Bus Driver Unreasonably Attacks Me

The Shadow of the Moon

A Daughter of the Moon Trilogy Novel

Book 1

Chapter 1: My Demon Bus Driver Unreasonably Attacks Me

When it was morning, the tough sunlight tried to penetrate through my eyelids. "Ugh!" I groaned, temporarily regardless of what day it was. Finally! The last brutal day of school was in motion. That was, of course, something to really look forward to. I stretched my long legs and bent over to touch my toes, something I hadn't been able to do in quite a while. Or at least I had never tried. I shuffled out of bed, hopeful today would be different. I got up and combed my hair quickly. Long, brown hair tumbled to just beyond the bottom of my shoulder blades. I took the ponytail holder I had tied it with and put it around my wrist for later use.

Now, naturally, you may think that when you are in a enclosed room: four walls, a floor, a ceiling; the usual. You wouldn't be able to hear someone else's voice too clearly. Well, lucky me, that theory did not in any way, apply to my obnoxious, phony stepmother. I slipped on a pair of gray Uggs, and unwillingly stepped out into the hall for breakfast.

Also, someone's voice may seem louder as you get closer to them. Again, does not apply. It did to my stepsisters, but not Hilary. Casey and Chrissy were fighting over who would get the bigger pancake. Casey saw me and ran over to hug me. Out of the twins, she was sweet and thought of me as her sister. Chrissy, on the other hand, got her personality from her mother. Chrissy looked at me as though I were something she might've peeled off the bottom of her gold ballerina flats. I ignored her and turned to Casey.

"How'd you sleep?" I asked.

"Fine." She answered quietly. she looked down. Something told me it hadn't been so fine.

"C'mere" I pulled her into my arms. Her dirty blond hair gave off the sweet smell of jasmine. I would die for that little girl.

"Well?" Hilary said expectantly.

"Well what?" I fired back. I was in no mood for this.

"I want the bigger pancake!" Chrissy declared.

Casey pouted. "Fine, I'm not that hungry anyway." Casey was very timid.

I couldn't help but feel bad for that girl. Chrissy was so aggressive and always pushing her sister around. Casey only gave in because she knew that Chrissy was truly not worth her time.

"So what are we having for breakfast?" I asked.

"I dunno. _You_ tell _me_." Hilary said as she lazily thumbed through her copy of Vogue.

"_ Excuse me?" _

"Did I stutter? Just look at the table." I looked around, assuming that was my cue to check.

She was right. Of course, she had done nothing to prepare the girls for school. It wasn't the first time since I'd met her that I wanted to slap her.

The table was indeed clear, other than the gold linen table cloth and bouquet of pink petunias in the center. Some of the petals were a light, baby pink. Others were a bold, violent shade of fuchsia. _Just like my sisters _, I thought to myself.

"Alright." I clapped my hands together. "Who wants what?"

Casey's hand shot into the air. "I'll have a chocolate chip pancake, sissy!"

Chrissy pounded her fist on the table. "I told you wanted a pancake!"

"So there's no reason I can't have one," Casey replied meekly.

"Well than I want chocolate chips too!"

I sighed. _This _is why I wished my day would be normal and quiet. But apparently, that was too much to ask for.

Both girls turned their attention to me, but Chrissy in an 'I always get what I want' way. That was true. Chrissy was Hilary's favorite, but sensing this, Casey stuck to my father and me. So she was basically being brought up the same way as me. I sighed. I pulled the bag of chocolate chips out of the cupboard. "That should be enough for you both." I gave Chrissy a glare. "And I mean _both_ of you."

I brought their pancakes to the table. "Here you go."

To give the kid some slack, I put extra chocolate chips in Casey's on purpose. When I pretended to wash the dishes, I winked at Casey. Hilary was still engaged in her magazine and the girls were happy…

Unfortunately, Chrissy noticed her pancake's quantity of chocolate chips and of course, Casey's too. "Hey!" she whined.

"_What now?"_ I snapped.

Chrissy formed the perfect pout in case her mother should look up.

"Her pancake has more chips then mine!" She wailed.

"So does your shoulder," I grumbled.

"_MOM!" _Chrissy whined.

"Oh for God's sake! What?" Hilary was ticked off now. She had _looked up_ from her magazine. Chrissy pointed an accusing finger at me and Hilary's annoyed glare followed. I remained silent.

"Shailene gave Casey's pancake more chips than mine!"

I rolled my eyes. "It wasn't on purpose. Don't get your pigtails in a twist!" I shouted. Casey's concealed smile was like a little round of applause. While still looking at me, Casey's shoulders showed she was suppressing laughter. Chrissy noticed this and went to whine again. She saw her mother was back to her magazine. She reached over and grabbed Casey's pancake and licked it. "Ha! It's _mine _now!" Casey turned and saw her sister's chocolaty tongue rolling over her pancake. Casey eyed Chrissy's untouched pancake and I knew what she was thinking. Without warning, Casey snatched her sister's and began stuffing bites into her mouth. "Vine, but I het da bigga one." she gloated through a stuffed mouth.

Chrissy's jaw clenched, then dropped. I saw Casey flinch slightly, expecting her to whine as we all did. We waited, but there was silence. Nothing went in or came out but air, and even _that_ was silent. Propelled by her mini victory, Casey put the last bite of pancake into her mouth and hopped down from her chair, leaving her sister paralyzed in shock.

She smiled at me. "Brush your teeth," I warned strictly. You know your mom doesn't like food in your teeth." Casey's green eyes widened as she rubbed her index finger back and forth across her top teeth. "Just go brush them" I scolded softly and sent her on her way.

I hurried into my room and got dressed. I selected a tee shirt that said "surf Cali" on it and a pair of shorts that were slightly ripped. I wore my favorite flip flops with a small wedge to them with that ensemble Of course our school had dress codes, but it was the last day of school. What could they do?

Give me detention?

I rushed out of my room, not worrying about a jacket. It was 68 degrees and only going to get warmer. I kissed my sisters good-bye, Chrissy seeming back in her place after he minimal defeat. I had to hand it to Casey, when her sister pushed her too far, she really let her know it! I was proud of my sister.

The bus roared around the corner. I could hear all the kids jeering already. They were always beating on each other. Me? I was more of one to sit and observe. I always wished someday those kids would realize how immature they seemed. I wonder if they even realized it, and if they did, were they okay with it?

I shook my head. I just wasn't sure if it was from disgust or sorrow. Not sorrow, I hoped. These morons didn't deserve my pity, or anyone's pity really. I sighed This was it. My last day of 8th grade, and middle school.

My bus pulled to a creaky stop, like nails on a chalkboard. Eeeeeeeeek! I shook my head, hoping I could erase the sound with my thoughts. The doors swished open. The driver was either high, or hung-over, as usual. nothing new here. Her jet-black hair was pulled back into a haphazard, knotty ponytail. Her brown eyes were blood-shot. Again, nothing new. When she greeted me, she sounded sober, and if I wasn't imagining, there was a faint smile on her pale pink lips.

I searched for my friend Alison. She beckoned to me: a small finger wave, nothing fancy. I plopped down beside her and hung my head back.

"Hilary again, huh?"

I was an open book to her. "Yup." I sighed. Then in all seriousness, I turned to face her, my head still hanging back. "Have you ever felt like you just wanted to live on your own?" I asked.

Alison shook her head, platinum blond hair swishing around her heart shaped face. "Not exactly,": she answered honestly.

"Help me out here, Ali." I pleaded. "I just wish my _whole_ family respected me. I don't care if Hilary likes me, or if Chrissy likes me. Not really, no. It's so hard feeling like you belong to half of something, but not the other…" My sleepy voice trailed off. "I wish my dad would just dump her. I don't even get what she's good for. All she does is torment me and Casey, and pretends she's a doll for my dad." I shook my head. "I wish he knew, but I can't bring myself to tell him. He'd be horrified, let alone devastated, if he knew. No. I can't tell him, can I?"

Alison looked at me, sympathy swimming in her crystal blue irises. She nodded her head sadly. "And it's for the girls," Alison said in a soft whisper, referring to my twin sisters. Alison changed the subject.

"Oh forget about it for now. It's the last day of school!" Alison reminded me, even though she didn't have to.

I grinned. "Yeah, you're right." I sat up straighter in my seat. the summer sun shone through the dusty glass windows. For some reason, this made me even happier.

Alison was pretty popular at school. She was always wearing Abercrombie, had long wavy platinum blond hair, and these beautiful, crystalline blue eyes. Not a freckle or imperfection in sight. She had an athlete's muscular build, but it looked graceful and beautiful on her. Even though I wished I looked like her, I could never be jealous of her. In third grade, when Alison was still popular, I wasn't. None of the popular kids even looked at me. I had very few friends and was considered a nerd because I did well in all my subjects. One day, I didn't really feel like talking to anyone, so I sat alone. When all of a sudden, a girl who could pass for an eight year old model came to me. I was in shock.

"What do _you _want?" I asked icily.

Alison looked at me, a little confused. "I just saw you were sitting alone." She had said softly. "I thought maybe, you might want someone to sit with you."

"Funny how you thought that." I replied coolly. "I don't need your sympathy. Or anyone's sympathy for that matter!"

The thing that was interesting about Alison is that many popular girls are like pistols, loaded with hurtful comebacks. Alison's light blue eyes penetrated right through me. "If you want to be left alone, that's fine. But I don't give up easily." She stood up slowly from the chair she'd voluntarily taken. I watched her leave, not feeling any regret at all about what I had just done. If I'd known we'd be best friends, I wouldn't have rejected her that first time.

True to her word though, Alison was very determined to talk to me. It was the end of the day and I was checking my backpack to see if I had everything I needed before I boarded the bus. My math workbook, English ditto, and science textbook was all in there. I swung the bag over my shoulder and started forward to board the bus. I felt a gruff hand on my neck. I froze. The hand pulled me back. I stumbled backward out of surprise and fell to the ground. I wasn't surprised to see her, but I was hoping I wouldn't.

Robyn McAllister was the toughest girl in my whole school. She was in fourth grade and after the rest of the current year, would graduate to fifth. Her stringy, mousy brown hair hung around her oval face. "Get up, you maggot." I got up, but not because she told me to. I just didn't feel like laying on the ground all day.

"Give me that." Robyn grabbed my backpack and observed it's contents. "Are you good at climbing trees" She asked, a stupid grin forming, revealing her dull silver and black braces.

"Why should it matter to you?" I snapped, putting my hands on my hips.

"'Cause you're gonna have to be. I'm hanging this from that tree. On the highest branch." She grinned stupidly.

I crossed my arms. "I don't know why you're so proud of yourself. Oh yeah, I get it now. You're normally too stupid to think of anything this good." Robyn was pretty stunned, so I snatched my backpack and continued to board the bus.

I sat in an empty seat, not drawing any attention to myself. Robyn was being yelled at by a teacher. I looked out my window and saw her playing innocent. Whichever, I could tell it wasn't going down well either way. She saw me laughing and shot me a look that said '_I'll deal with you later _' I turned away from the window and felt someone's eyes on me. Alison was sitting on the opposite side of the isle and one row back. She turned away, embarrassed. I saw her cheeks flush. I was instantly reminded of a porcelain doll's-impossibly rosy cheeks, like little, pink polka dots of color painted on to look more animated and theatrical. Robyn had boarded the bus and was making her way to the back. I fiddled with my fingers, hoping she wouldn't see me. Still to this day, I don't know what possessed me to talk back, I just know I did.

But, against my wishes, she did see me.

On purpose, she fumbled with her feet and "fell" on top of me. She pulled my hair and pounded me a few times. I slapped her across the face. "You are _DEAD!" _She roared. I braced myself for a really hard hit.

Well, I was waiting, but nothing was happening. Robyn was screaming at someone, but it wasn't me. I opened my eyes and tried to adjust them to what I saw. Alison was holding Robyn by her hair and hitting her. Alison practically threw Robyn back down the isle, all the way to the back.

"Leave her alone!" She warned. She sat next to me. She had a scratch on her face, but it was small and wasn't producing any blood. I pulled a mirror out of the side pocket of my backpack.

"You have a scratch on your face now, Alison"

She winced as my finger neared her cheek. I, very gently, touched right about where it was. "Right there." I placed the simple compact in her delicate palm. Alison's beautiful face looked alarmed. "It's not bleeding, don't worry," I assured her. "I really owe you," I said. "Thanks. A lot. I've never had anyone stand up for me the way you did." I looked down, feeling a little shy. She put her delicate hand on my shoulder. I met her gaze. She opened her full lips to speak but I quickly cut her off. "Oh, and um, I'm really sorry she hit you." I motioned to her scratch. "Are you okay?"

Alison looked at me and smiled a soft half-smile. "I'm fine. It didn't hurt that badly." Her voice had started out loud and got quieter. She jerked her head up like she forgot something. "…And it's okay. I wanted to help you."

Ever since that day, we had been inseparable.

I zoned back in on today. Just in time to get off the bus. Alison stood me up, still in a bit of a reverie.

"Sorry." I snapped out of it.

Alison laughed musically. "It's fine." I realized that the rest of the bus was deserted, except for us. Tammy, our driver, looked back at us expectantly. Probably too exhausted to say anything, she just turned around and gripped the wheel, like a pilot ready for takeoff. Except her knuckles were white and her jaw clenched tight. Alison and I grabbed our tote bags and got out of there.

The driver's expression was a little freaky-aggressive and vigilant now. No longer drowsy and wasted like before. I eyed her suspiciously. I grabbed Alison's hand and bolted down the stairs. I didn't look back until we were safely inside the school. She had watched us go inside and was still parked there. She realized that I noticed and pressed her foot to the gas pedal. Even from inside I could hear the engine as she roared away. Alison took in what was happening. "What the hell was that all about?"

I pressed myself to the wall, breathing heavily after our sprint. "I don't know," I admitted. "But it freaked me out!" Alison and I looked at each other without saying a word.

We hurried to our lockers and made it to homeroom on time. We were in the same homeroom, but our seats weren't close enough together to talk. I ignored Miss Shierant's lecture about how she hoped she had an influence on us…but I could've cared less. I was still pretty bewildered about what had just happened back on the bus. I stole a quick glance at Alison. She seemed pretty calm and collected, but I could tell by the expression on her face that she was thinking-more like concentrating-on what had just happened. I felt my heart racing and put a hand on my chest and pressed down firmly, trying to contain and slow it's rapid beat. I focused on breathing a little lighter, a little less noticeable. True, the class was bored out of their minds and not paying attention to anything but the slow-ticking clock on the wall, but should anyone see me, they'd think I was-

A) insane or mentally unstable, or

B) hyperventilating.

Though I didn't want them thinking anything negative about me, I'd prefer if it was choice B. Though I cared about how I looked, I wasn't necessarily vain. I could _definitely _act like it though, which I wasn't proud of, but I couldn't help. I guess I did well on the social ladder at Jefferson Junior High. Ever since that day in third grade, Alison hadn't been afraid to be seen with me. She let me sit at her lunch table and it helped me make more friends. She was always gave great advice and was compassionate and caring about everything that happened in my life. I had made many friends and considered myself to be decent looking. Not drop-your-jaw, world stops turning gorgeous or vice versa. I had long brown hair that was natural wavy (though I often preferred to straighten it), lips that were full (enough), and a plain old average nose. My eyes were by far my favorite feature. My irises had seen nearly every color there was. When I was born, my eyes were dark blue, but this changes as the pigment comes through and develops. When I was little, my eyes were a rich, chocolate brown. As I grew, a little bit of green started to peek through. Now, in the present day, my eyes were hazel with a ring of copper right around my pupil. Long, dark eyelashes complimented my eyes.

Apparently my eyes appeared glazed over to my teacher, which of course they were, considering I had not been paying any attention to her lecture.

"Ms. Kelley!" Miss Shierant snapped. I shook my head, dazed.

"Yes?" I asked, anticipating the question that would follow.

"What did I just say?" she smirked.

I bit my lip. the first answer to her question was literally '_what did I just say',_ but I refused to get in trouble the very last day of school.

"Um," I stared at my desk cowardly, not being able to face her. I fumbled with my pen, thinking of what could possibly be the right answer.

"I see that you found that a difficult question." She found that humorous apparently. A few kids snickered but all I did was lean back in my chair, refusing to give her a reaction.

Shierant was in her late twenties. Her sand-colored bob always hung dead around her face. She had common, brown eyes and was always very sickly looking. Her eyes contained a very dead expression in them, like she was disconnected from the world, and every joy the world contained. She wasn't married and had no children. She never talked about the rest of her family, so I wasn't sure if she saw them much at all. Miss Shierant was truly a dreary creature, that was for sure. Even though she wasn't exactly at her nicest, I secretly felt bad for her. She taught 8th grade physics but I was NOT looking forward to the possibility of having her next year.

Now I'm sure that sounds hypocritical, considering I just said I felt sorry for her. But, hey, I said I felt _sorry_ for her, not that I want to listen to her droning lectures.

I snuck a peek at my phone. Only three more minutes until the final bell of the year. But even still, that seemed like an eternity.

I impatiently tapped my nails on my desk in no particular rhythm. After a few seconds of hearing and experimenting and hearing all different kinds of quiet, subtle beats. I started to get into it. I started pumping my palms against my thighs, creating more of a louder sound. I had been staring into space, and realized after I heard the rest of the class's snickers and giggles. When I looked to see what was so funny, based by Ms. Shierant's disapproving glare and twenty-one pairs of eyes all aimed at me, I kind of figured who the victim of humiliation was here.

Oops.

"Are you _through_, Ms. Kelley?" Ms. Shierant barked, agitation creeping into the words 'through' and of course my name. I stared at her, trying to waste some of the everlasting three minutes when I heard a soft, melodious giggle; like a fresh spring

breeze sweeping through the tubes of a wind chime. I snapped my neck around. Of course it was Tess.

Ah, Tess Lafferty. Where to begin….Tess was one of the prettiest girls in my school. Her hair was the color of luscious dark chocolate and almond shaped eyes were an electric green. She drew every guy's attention and never failed to make everyone feel like they were beneath her. She did a good job as her role of "queen of the school." Except for one thing. I _really _wanted to dunk her head in the only throne _I_ felt she belonged on…

"Yes ma'am." I said, refusing to take my eyes off Tess. She batted her eyelashes innocently and as soon as Ms. Shierant turned her back, her gentle gaze turned to a glare of steel.

Even thought Tess and I were never really friends, we didn't hate each other like we did now. She and Alison had been best friends before Alison and I really even "met". Alison and I had bonded so quickly. She and Tess went way back, like to kindergarten or something. Tess had tried to persuade Alison many times that I would "waste her status and would ruin their friendship" if she continued to hang out with me. Alison held firm and said "her 'wasting' my status is not important. _You_ wasting my time, is."

Now, Alison and Tess had separated into two kinds of popular: Tess become the bitchy kind of popular, Alison was more of the everyone wanted to be her friend kind of popular. Even to this day, Tess considers me guilty for the fact that she and Alison were no longer friends.

Is it me, or am I, like, totally guilty, like?

That is from Tess's point of view, or so I presume. She must say the word 'like' in practically every sentence. One of her many annoying tendencies.

I realized I was zoning out again, but luckily, no one else caught onto that and there was no laughter.

Good.

I eyed the clock and realized that it was almost time for us to go.

What a shame….

_Yes! _

I was _kind of _going to miss middle school, but part of me just wanted to leave.

We all sat, ignoring our teacher, waiting for freedom.

I observed that I wasn't the only one desperately, slowly, reaching for their books and/or belongings. We all sat, ignoring our teacher, waiting for the freedom signal….

_RING!_

We all poured out of the classroom, dashing to the buses and if you lived closer, your parents' cars. I grabbed Alison's thin wrist and we bolted out the door and into the warm summer sun. A refreshing breeze caught our clothes and hair. Mine whipped in the wind as I ran, blowing in my face and, ultimately, annoyed me. We were among the first on the bus. As we headed to the back, I happened to look over and saw Ryan Murphy. He was absolutely _gorgeous!_ His hair wasn't long, but it looked kind of shaggy. Like long enough for you to easily run your fingers through it. He had these brown eyes that looked like his irises consisted of melted chocolate. He was slightly taller than me and was very athletic. He was the kind of guy every girl wanted to be with. Possibly even me…

My thoughts were interrupted by the _swish_ of the bus door being closed. I looked around, it was just the three of us. I looked at Alison suspiciously. What the heck was going on?

All of a sudden, the bus jerked into motion, sending me into the back of the seat in front of me face first. The bus driver still had that strained expression. She drove us into the abandoned parking lot of an old car dealership only about five minutes away from the school. Alison and I stole a glance at Ryan. He had been looking at us. He seemed just as confused as thought we did.

At first, the driver did not stir. An awkward silence hung in the air. No one knew what to do. Was she waiting for us to say something? Or was she preparing herself. I slowly reached for my cell phone, which was thankfully tucked in my pocket. The driver whipped her head around.

"Don't!" she warned. I quickly stuffed it back in my pocket.

"'Kay." I could hear the fear in my voice and I kicked myself for it. I knew that was what she wanted. But I mean, really. If you thought your bus driver was abducting you and they scaring you to a point where you wished you could teleport back home (even if it would be to a cruel, uncaring stepmother) you probably would've been no less scared than I was.

Then for the first time, I noticed something different about our driver. Her knotty ponytail was now grayed, and her once decent skin was now covered in sags and wrinkles. Her eyes were bloodshot and even her hands now looked gnarled. She was definitely not a sight for sore eyes. Not that she ever was….Point is, she looked ten times worse then I'd ever seen her.` After another long silence, Ryan interrupted the tension.

"Why did u bring us here?" I looked at him. Straight face and in full control. I was sure I hadn't appeared that way. The driver eyed him and very slowly rose from her seat. "You are powerful, but foolish. You and that girl!" she snarled. A talon was pointed at me,

Whoa. _Talon?_

Before our eyes, she slowly transformed into a hag. I gaped at what I saw. Bat-like webbed wing, a skeletal body and gnarled talons replaced our troubled bus driver. "SHAILENE KELLEY!" she hissed. "AND RYAN MURPHY!" She licked her lips, her eyes gleaming, flickering between me and Ryan as though she was unsure of what to do next.

"Fury," I heard Alison whisper under her breath. Not getting the hint, and being caught off guard by her statement, I said as loud as I could, "A WHAT?"

Oops.

To bring her attention off of my loud remark I covered it up with something else. "What do you want from us?" I practiced on my voice. A little better. I turned my attention to this, whatever it was, up at the front of the bus.

"Well?" Her eyes were gleaming wickedly.

"Not much." She replied vaguely.

I swear. People were having fun trying my patience today.

"Well what then?" I said testily. The creature heard this too.

"I wouldn't be quite so rude, my young half-blood.

" Young_ what?_ " Ryan and I said in unison

"In fact, I may have to kill you first now." Within milliseconds of replying, she lunged at me, I dove, but her talons scratched me terribly. My arm was cut open and ruby-red blood was slowly trickling down my arm. Before I could stand, she pinned me down. Being stupid and acting on an impulse, I flailed my fists, hitting her square in the face.

"GET OFFA ME!" I wailed. With the help of Ryan, I pried her off me and thrust her into the side of the bus. The bus turned onto it's side. Allison was now searching the bus for something to attack with and Ryan was just trying to keep the demon away from me. Black spots twirled and faded in and out in front of my eyes. I knew that I couldn't hold on much longer. I was losing way too much blood. I was panting, literally gasping for a breath. The last things I can remember are not very clear, considering I was on the verge of passing out. but I do remember Ryan and Alison talking, though it didn't sound like a real language to me, being in the physical state I was. Alison's concerned eyes gazing at me as though she actually felt guilty. Then, her expression became aggressive. She turned and pulled the key out of the ignition. She jabbed the key into the demon's side. She roared and turned to lunge at her, but when she moved, she exploded into yellow dust that left a horrible stench.

My breathing was limited. The last thing I saw before I completely passed out was Ryan bending over me and gently picking me up. The bus was now on fire. He and Alison had thought ahead and already and already opened the fire escape hatch which he now was gently helping me through. I remember the beat of his foot steps carrying me away from the burning disaster, the flames rising higher and higher and the smoke engulfing me as I slowly blacked out.


	2. I Get Only A Little Freaked Out

The Shadow of the Moon

A Daughter of the Moon Trilogy Novel Book 1

Chapter 2: I Get Only A Little Freaked Out

When I woke, I was in an unfamiliar room. Everything was a bleak, unemotional white. On the nightstand next to me, there was a red-tinted glass cup there was a golden liquid inside. On the foot of the bed, a plate of some sort of food that kind of resembled lemon squares. I felt kind of hungry. I slowly sat up and picked one up. I sniffed it. It didn't have a particular smell, so I couldn't determine a flavor yet. I, very cautiously, took the first bite. At first, no flavor was present and then something settled in that was almost like a lemon cake flavor. The "cake" was very moist too! Next to the plate, there were napkins. I took one and wiped my mouth with it. That was scrumptious! Lemon cake was one of my favorite treats and I hadn't had it in so long! It tasted like the kind Casey and I would bake together sometimes on the weekends.

Instantly, my pain was healed. It felt like someone was sucking the poison out of a snake bite. I examined the half bitten square in my hand.

'_What is this?'_ I thought. _'How is that possible?'_

I wondered if the drink did the same…. I looked inside the glass cup. A golden liquid that looked translucent was inside. Finally, my curiosity got the best of me, and I simply had to take a sip.

It was amazing! The taste was like a cookies n' cream milkshake. It was delicious. I took another long sip. After that, I was satisfied, as if the drink was designed to satisfy your thirst within a few sips. As if you were only allowed to have a certain amount of it. I wondered what it was called, and why I'd never had it before.

The doorknob rattled. I'm sure I looked stupid, wide-eyed like a deer in headlights; frozen with the cup in my hand.

It was just Alison.

"You're awake!" she cried. She ran over to hug me. Her grip was so firm, it made my wounds sting a little. I didn't really care. I hugged her back.

"W-was I, um, supposed to drink this?" I asked sheepishly.

Alison pulled away to see what I was talking about. "Yes. You are very much allowed." She laughed.

"Cool. Um, and what is this? It tastes very good. I've never had it before…."

I was interrupted by Allison's laughter. I crinkled my eyebrows. "Of course you haven't!" she explained. "Here let me explain things better. Oh, and don't worry. We told your dad where you were…."

"…And where is that, exactly?"

"Slow down," Allison said. "You're at Camp Half-Blood."

"Where are we though? Like, where is Camp Half-Blood?"

"Montauk, Long Island. "

"Good. Then I'm not far from home. Sorry, go on."

"Right. So. Camp Half-Blood. It's a magical camp…"

Now it was _my_ turn to laugh.

"Are you serious?" I choked.

Alison nodded solemnly. I just stared at her.

"It's a place for half-bloods, or demigods, to train. A demigod is a child of a god, and a mortal. As the name 'half-blood' implies…they are half mortal and half god."

"So, why am I here?"

Alison looked at me with such a serious face, I knew she had to be kidding.

Or at least that was what I thought.

"Alison?" I prodded. "You're…kidding, right?"

Alison said nothing and that pissed me off even more.

"This isn't funny! This is such a lame joke. The gods don't _actually_ exist! Why do you think that when you study them, it's called Greek _myth_ology! Myth, Alison! They aren't real!"

"Yes they are!" Alion protested. "Don't you find it convenient that you never met your mother?"

I considered that. It was true, I'd never met my mother. My father told me she had died in childbirth with me.

"That's different!" I protested. "My mother DIED. She didn't run off to rule friggin' Mount Olympus. It's not her fault she couldn't stay with me!" Hot tears blurred my vision.

"You're mother is _not_ dead!" She is very much alive and has been for thousands of years!"

"Then why would my dad tell me she died?"

"Your mother left him. She loved you and your father very much, but Olympus does not allow any god or goddessto live on Earth. And the same goes vise versa."

"Well if you know so much, who _is_ my mother?" I huffed.

Alison aimed her eyes at the ground. "I don't know," she admitted softly.

"That's what I thought." I fired at her.

"No one does."

I was getting more and more annoyed about this whole thing.

"Well don't you think my dad would? You want me to call him?"

"It would do no good. Mortal parents are sworn to secrecy. Sometimes, the Olympian doesn't even _tell_ the mortal. If the affair simply comes up, then they may perhaps feel as though the mortal cannot be trusted. It is up to the Olympian parent

and only the Olympian parent to claim their half-blood."

"How do you know all this? About that golden drink…?" I pointed to the glass.

"Nectar."

"What?"

"The drink. Nectar. It's a Grecian drink, originated from Mount Olympus. It heals a god or demigod's wounds."

Wow, did _that_ ring a bell.

"Is there any other kind of food like that?"

Alison nodded. "Ambrosia."

"What does that taste like?" I asked looking for a comparison.

"I dunno. It's taste is different to everybody.

"It tasted like lemon cake to me."

Alison grinned. "Now I want cake."

"Lemon cake is my favorite kind of cake," I reminisced. "Hey, wait. Does nectar taste different to different people, too?"

"Yes. The same principles apply."

I tried my best to take this all in. "So, what's the purpose of this camp?"

"Many monsters are hunting for and prey on you half-bloods…"

"'You half-bloods'? You mean you aren't a half-blood?"

"No. I'm not."

"I'm sure this doesn't sound polite, but then why are you at a camp for demigods? What are you considered then?"

"I'm a dryad. I have the ability to turn into a tree."

My jaw dropped open and I felt that would be happening to me a lot here…

Now, I don't know for sure if you've ever been through this experience, but finding out that your best friend is a TREE is kind of…shocking.

"So then why did you go to school? Why not come here?"

"I was sent to nurture, then retrieve you. You see, normally that is a satyr's job, but…"

"Whoa. Wait. Whoa, whoa, whoa. Isn't a satyr, like a goat?"

"They are half and half. Like you. So like I was saying, it's usually a satyr's job to retrieve a half-blood. That's how they get their searcher's license. Years ago, the

great god Pan disappeared.. He himself was a satyr. Many believed he died. But the satyrs hold firm and say he is simply lost. Their one goal in life is to find Pan and bring him back. They cannot do so unless they have earned a searcher's license and in order to earn it, they have to successfully bring a half-blood back to Half-Blood Hill, or the hill that surrounds the valley where the camp is.

"But lately, so many satyrs have gone to search for Pan, that now, the camp is a little short handed. So, dryads, and nymphs and naiads are pitching in."

"Listen, I said. If you can show me proof that this camp is mythical, then I will believe you."

"Okay." Alison said. "When we went to your house to tell your dad where you would be, we took a great amount of clothing that should last you the summer." She walked back down the hall and came back with my beach tote bag. It was filled with clothes, cash, and _solid gold?_

I pulled one of the coins out and held it between my index and thumb fingers. "Where did _this_ come from?"

"From the camp. You may need them.. Pick something out and get dressed. If you need new gauze for that lemme know." Alison gestured to my screwed up arm.

"'Kay. Thanks, Ali."

She left me so I could get changed. I took one of my favorite Hollister tees, a pair of shorts, and my favorite Ed Hardy sneakers. On the opposite wall of the bed, was a sliding glass door. I slid it open and stepped out onto the highest layer of the house's wraparound porch was white and matched the trim on the old blue farmhouse. I looked down below and saw Allison.

"Come on down here! There's someone I want you to meet!" She called up to me. I took a look around at the sunny valley filled with strawberry plants. I nodded and started to head toward her. I ran down the final stairs and…right into a centaur.


	3. I'm Formally Introduced To A Centaur

The Shadow of the Moon

A Daughter of the Moon Trilogy Novel

Book 1

Chapter 3: I'm Formally Introduced To A Thousand Year Old Centaur

My jaw hung open, and I felt I was incapable of closing it back up. The centaur raised an eyebrow expectantly.

"Well?"

I could tell he was waiting for something other than air to come out of my mouth, but I was speechless.

"W-what the h-heck?" I pointed at his hind legs. "What the….? I mean….no!" I also couldn't even finish a single sentence. "But that's…!"

"Impossible?" He finished for me. "My name is Chiron…."

"Oh yeah! I learned about you! You look good for your age! Aren't you, like really old?"

He didn't seem offended.

"There's the ADHD kicking in, I'm sure…"

"H-how did you know I had ADHD?" I backed away a few steps getting ready to turn and run.

"It isn't uncommon." Chiron assured me. "You're probably dyslexic too, no?"

I nodded cautiously. This guy (kind of) was starting to really freak me out. I mean, hey, if a stranger walked up to you, and claimed he was the thousand year old centaur Chiron and knew things about you that a stranger wouldn't typically know, wouldn't you find that, odd, too?

"Yes."

Chiron nodded. "The signs are there. But whether or not she is indeed a demigod," he paused to examine me, "I don't know."

Alison intercepted. "But she is sir. She survived the nectar and ambrosia. She _has_ to be."

Chiron thought this over. "Good point Alessandra, yes."

"Alessandra?"

"My real name, yes." Alison confirmed.

"Back to the point. You don't have blond hair or gray eyes, so we can most likely count Athena out. That leaves us Aphrodite," he saw the grimace that I made no effort to conceal and paused. I pretended to look innocent. "Hera, Demeter, Artemis, and maybe Hestia." He considered. "Usually, I have a rather good judgment on who's child any half-blood could be. But with you…" he trailed off, lost in his thoughts. "I have no idea."

He tapped his chin, awestruck. He shrugged. "Alison? Will you please give um… what did you say our name was again, dear?"

"Shailene" I filled in.

"Yes, yes. Will you please give Shailene a tour of the camp?"

"Yes sir." Alison said respectfully.

As we headed back down the hill, I saw Chiron watching us skeptically. This whole thing frightened me. Why did I have to be the unknown half-blood? And where was Ryan? All these thoughts flooded to me as we headed toward the lake. From afar I saw the naiads, gossiping and weaving baskets from sea grass at the bottom of the lake. "First stop the lake." Alison announced. The sound of hooves galloping made me turn my attention back to the top of the hill. Wherever Chiron was, he was long gone now. I turned my attention back to the lake, but I found it hard to focus. Why was he acting so shady?

Chiron galloped all the way up to the attic of the old farmhouse. He threw open the trap door. The Oracle sat on the same stool in the same corner that she had been for years. Spectacles of dust wandered through the air, where a path of direct sunlight hit them. With a hissing sound, the Oracle's mouth slowly opened. Aqua green mist swirled out in tendrils. A rasping voice echoed through the attic. "Approach seeker, and ask."

Chiron cleared his throat. Even this part scared him.

"What Olympian goddess is the mother of our new camper, Shailene?"

More green mist emerged.

_It's clear this new camper brings you interest,_

_But her time to reign comes when the world is at rest._

_She will be worshiped by satyrs, and dryads, and nymphs, _

_Should her mother claim her and return to Olympus._

Understanding seized Chiron. He took a peek out of the window. He was unknowingly getting front row seats to an interesting show. One of the more attention starving naiads was grabbing me by the ankle and dragging me into the lake. The water was splashing everywhere and Alison was getting into it with a naiad that apparently found the display funny.

As he turned to exit the attic, he turned and looked at the fake replica of Zeus' mighty shield, Aegis. As he turned once more for the exit, Chiron muttered a plea hopefully "Zeus save me!"


	4. I Get Into It With A Naiad

The Shadow of the Moon

A Daughter of the Moon Trilogy Novel

Book 1

Chapter 4: I Get Into It With A Naiad

The naiad's arm reached out and swiftly grabbed a hold of my ankle and dragged me into the water. I don't hate water, I just hate that damp feeling you get when you emerge and are sitting around freezing your butt off after the fact.

From the unexpected move, I suddenly inhaled. That familiar stinging burn on the inside of my nose made me pump my legs vigorously, working hard for my head to burst through the surface of the lake.

I finally broke through. I gasped and coughed over and over. Even though I was totally exposed to oxygen, I felt like I couldn't breathe anyway. The pesky naiad that pulled me into the lake laughed and splashed at me in a way that was supposed to be playful but just annoyed me further.

"Aaargh!" I growled. I splashed at her as hard as I could, willing the water not to fall short; to hit her. The naiad wailed.

"What'd you do that for?" she shrieked.

"What do you think?" I roared. I turned my back to her and headed for the sandy shore.

"I was just joking around," she said trying to seem innocent and make me feel bad for lashing out on her.

"It wasn't funny!" I growled. I turned and whipped my hand across the surface of the lake. The water droplets flew and stung the naiads skin when they hit her.

"Ouch!"

"See? That's funny. And you're already in the water! All I did was splash you!"

I groaned and ignored her and kept heading toward the shore. I climbed out.

"You wanna see funny? Come back in here and all of my friends will be laughing!" she threatened.

"I just might do that. Except we'll see who'll come out laughing." I turned around swiftly and dove into the water.

**This scene has been removed for violent and inappropriate content**

A crowd of demigods, satyrs, and nymphs began to gather around. Though we kept surfacing and going underwater, I managed to hear a teenage boy begin to yell "Fight! Fight! Fight! Fight!" and pretty soon, the whole camp had gathered around the lake watching me and the naiad (who's name I still did not know) pounding each other. Finally some goody-goody which will remain unnamed **cough cough** cabin 6!**cough cough** had run and gotten Chiron to break things up, which believe me, he did not seemed thrilled to do.

"Shailene! Morgan!"

Oh…so THAT'S what her name was..

"What is the meaning of this behavior?"

Great first impression, I know. But this could seriously _not_ be pinned all on me! Could it?

"She started everything!" Morgan wailed.

Um, yeah. It could.

"She made fun of me and I tried to be mature and swim away, but she pursued me and then she just pounced! I didn't stand a chance…" She trailed off, her head was bowed. Here came the crocodile tears.

"That is bullsh-!"

I was interrupted when Chiron asked me what my side of the story was.

"Alison was giving that tour she promised and we came over to the lake. She was explaining how we could go canoeing, and maybe learn how to water ski. They surfaced and we started talking to Morgan's friend. Then Morgan just swam forward and grabbed me by the ankle and pulled me in!" I huffed. "Ask Alison! She was a witness!"

"No that's fine," Chiron sighed. "We can't ask your _best friend_ if you did anything wrong…unless someone other than the naiads and Alison witnessed the whole thing, you will both be punished for the incident…"

Chiron was interrupted by the rustling of leaves. Slowly, a nearby oak tree evolved into the form of a girl probably about our age. She had long, curly, chocolate brown hair and eyes to match.

"I saw the whole thing." The girl announced. I guess to her this was normal, but I can't say I've ever seen a tree transform into _a girl_ before!

"Shailene speaks of the truth." Her slight finger was pointed at me.

Okay, a little medieval-ish, but still appreciated….

The girl seemed so regal and elegant. Her pixie features were sharp, but not extremely cartoonish. She was wearing a green dress that looked like it was made of…silk? Maybe satin. I wasn't sure. I was standing on the other side of the lake after all…and it flattered her slight frame.

"Thank you Jade." Chiron said gratefully. The girl turned and disappeared into the woods once more.

"As for you two," he turned to us. "Alison, maybe you should continue the tour at another time. You both can go and get your belongings. Bring her to cabin 11, Alison. I will send Violet to meet you in front. She can introduce Shailene to the camp from there." He turned is attention back to the naiads.

Alison and I wasted no time to run back up the hill.

We went back inside the Big House. I found the backpack Allison had packed everything she thought I would want or need at camp. Of course, after knowing me for about five years, she had learned everything there was to learn about me.

I walked onto the front porch to meet Viola, I think it was? There was a girl standing on the first level of the porch and I assumed it was her. She was already standing there, but her back was to me. She had iPod earphones in her ears, so it took a couple of tries to get her attention.

"Um, hello?"

Violet's head was still bopping, so I'm assuming she didn't know I was there.

"Hello?" I said a little louder than the first. I finally just tapped her on the shoulder. She jumped a little when I poked her, but it didn't seem to bother her that much.

"Oh, uh, hey." She smiled and her teeth almost blinded me. She had

wavy black layered hair and had a few little tiny streaks of dark purple tinted on the top layer of her hair. She was ultra thin and wore a pair of purple skinny jeans. She wore a ribbed off the shoulder short sleeve shirt, but then she had a hot pink tank top underneath. Her style was cool. I actually liked it. It wasn't that punk, more of like an 80's hipster. Even though _I _wouldn't wear it, it looked really good on her.

She held a silver iPod nano in her left hand and took out the earphones with the other.

"I'm Violet, daughter of Dionysus." She introduced herself.

"Isn't he the wine god?"

"Yeah. He's not here right now. He's at a council at Olympus. I don't know what, but something's got them annoyed, I guess." She shrugged like talking about the Greek gods was no big deal.

"Oh, that sucks." I wasn't really sure what else to say.

"Yeah. He will return soon though. He's the camp director here, though. Unwillingly. I'll tell you that another time. Big camp. Lots to see. Follow me." And she sauntered off. She seemed nice. It would be good to have another friend around here than Alison. Not that she wasn't enough, I just wanted some campers I would really be spending time with to be friends with.

I turned to say goodbye to Alison. I smiled and waved, then turned to catch up to Violet. I shifted my backpack from one shoulder to the other and descended down the slope.

She brought me to a crowded, over-packed cabin. From outside, we heard many, many screams and shouts.

"How long do I have to stay here?" I whimpered.

She laughed. "I know, it sucks. But every half-blood has to come here. Well, that is, every half-blood that comes to camp. Some go their whole lives and satyrs just never find them. Take George Washington for example. He was a son of Athena. But he obviously never showed up here…Point is, cabin 11 is the cabin of Hermes, god of travelers/ wanderers…"

"And thieves right?" I gulped.

Violet nodded.

She leaned in closer to me and whispered "Just, watch Rachel, ok? She likes to, uh, get her hands on things that don't belong to her." Violet pulled away and I saw sincerity in her brown eyes.

"So anyway. Naturally, being the god of travelers, Hermes's cabin welcomes in all unclaimed half-bloods. Some can be really young. Some here are, like six, I think."

"Are you serious?"

Violet nodded solemnly. "Yes. It's true, unfortunately. No one knows why, but sometimes half-bloods are just not claimed."

"How long were you here before your dad claimed you?"

Violet's brown eyes flickered back and forth, thinking. "I'm going to guess around two and a half weeks. Maybe three. Your parent will claim you soon. I'm sure of it. They go on a _spree_ over the summer, cause that's when everyone's here, you know."

All of a sudden we heard breaking glass, followed by a few what I assumed were curses, not in English though…

"I hope so." I murmured.

Violet patted my back assuringly. "Good luck."


	5. I Get Advice From A Drunken God

The Shadow of the Moon

A Daughter of the Moon Trilogy Novel

Book 1

Chapter 5: I Get Advice From A Drunken God

I walked slowly into cabin 11, clutching my belongings like I had a million dollars in that backpack instead of just clothes. The Hermes' cabin's reputation made me a little nervous.

I walked in looking around. I ducked in time to avoid a rubber band to the head. I opened one eye cautiously to see where that had come from.

"Sorry."

I looked and saw a girl with layered dirty blond hair pulled back into a neat ponytail. She was wearing an over-sized black tee that was pulled into what looked like a stubby, mini ponytail in the back. She was also wearing shorts and a pair of chunky flip flops.

She hopped off her perch from a top bunk. She had long legs, a deep tan, and moss green eyes. She had a pert nose and lips that were on the thinner side.

"I'm Megara, daughter of Hermes. But to most people, I'm just Meg." Her smile was warm and friendly.

"I'm Shailene, but, um, I don't know who my mom is. I'm unclaimed."

"Undetermined," Meg corrected.

"Uh, yeah. I guess." I shrugged.

Our articulate conversation was interrupted by a conch being blown far off in the distance. All of cabin 11 formed a single file near the door.

"Uh, where are we going?"

"Lunch. Here, you can put that on my bunk if you want." She gestured to my bag and then to the bunk she'd been sitting on when a misaimed rubber band almost hit me in the temple. I tossed it up, and went to the back of the line.

We marched u another hill to a dining area. The pavilion was set on a marble platform and had marble columns that rose at each corner. From the columns hung a banner that said 'Ares'. They were blood red and had the number 5 on them. On the banner was a picture of a threatening looking spear.

_Oh. That cabin must be fun._

We sat down at a picnic bench. Everyone was squished due to the cabin's circumstances but no one seemed to mind.

Chiron stomped his hoof to get attention.

I really had to get used to this centaur thing.

Next to Chiron was this short pudgy guy. The tip of his nose was bright red. He was wearing a tacky Hawaiian shirt, but it was a cheetah print. The guy had black, greasy looking hair, and what I think might've been a slight comb over. He was also wearing purple biking spandex shorts. This guy looked like a gross version of Danny DeVito. He was sipping a diet coke nonchalantly; looking down on all of us.

_This guy has some nerve, _I thought. _Who does he think he is? A god?_

Well, I'm sorry. But if you saw this guy, he would just look like a slob, not a GOD!

When Chiron finally got everyone's attention (which shouldn't be hard considering he is a mythological creature that's half horse) he began to make a speech.

"I see you are all back for another exciting summer. We have a new camper joining us this evening. Her name is Shailene." This was the part where I could feel myself beginning to blush. "Even though we had a bit of an ,incident today, I want all of you to treat her with kindness and respect. Now here's Mr. D."

The lazy guy looked up from his Coke and looked disturbed at the thought of having to _stand_ and talk. He slowly, reluctantly, stood.

"Oh. Isn't he the god of wine, or something like that?" I asked Meg who was seated next to me.

"Mhmm hmm." She said through closed lips.

Mr. D had everyone's attention, and not just for the obvious reason.

"Yeah, well uh, I'd like to introduce to you the new brat who will waste another one percent of my time here at this torture camp." He grunted. "Shaylynn, or whatever. Stand, Shaylynn please." He pronounced it "Shai-Lynn" He gestured for me to stand up.

"Shay-leen!" I enunciated.

"Yeah whatever. You're lucky I remembered the first letter." He grumbled.

"It's not a common name. It should be pretty easy to remember," I protested. He walked over to the table.

"You're lucky I'm on probation! I'm stuck here 'cause I asked for the ambrosia and nectar recipe. Zeus got mad and banished me here with all of you brats! Last time a camper talked back to me, he 'spontaneously' combusted." He saturated 'spontaneously' with sarcasm. "But that wasn't a big deal. We just started the bonfire early that night!" he roared. He pointed a chubby finger in my face. "Don't talk back to me!" A purple fire raged behind his dark brown, almost black eyes.

I sat back down and crossed my arms across my chest and tried to stare him down. He turned and lumbered away.

I turned to Meg. "Is it that hard to get a person's name right?"

"For him, yes." She sighed. "He knows your name, trust me. He's so caught up in being a god that he wants to pretend he doesn't know a 'mere' half-blood's name. It's a pride thing…I think. But he was MUCH closer to you name than he was to mine, kind of. Instead of Megara, he went around calling me 'Mascara.'" She pouted. "It was really annoying too."

I grimaced. "I can see how that would be," I said in all seriousness.

My attention span failed me once again. "How come there are red banners that say '5' on them?" I pondered.

"The '5' means cabin 5." She pointed to a maniacal looking bunch. Not one kid was normal sized. They were all giant and bulky and had blunt brown hair. Some looked gruesome; others plain threatening.

"Aw, they seem…charming." I said sarcastically.

Meg burst out laughing. "Don't they? But anyway. The banners show that their cabin holds the golden laurels for capture the flag. We play that game all the time here. It's like a camp tradition," she explained. "We all have our favorite weapons and stuff so it's actually pretty fun."

She looked alarmed. I'm pretty sure she saw the color drain out of my face. "Don't worry. You get in trouble big time if you intentionally maim someone, so they can't kill you or they get in huge trouble."

Well I felt _soooooo_ much better now.

"So anyway. What do you want to drink?"

"Um. What do they have here? Do they have soda?"

"Yeah. They have anything you want. Smoothies, sodas, Jamba Juices, you name it; they have it."

I pondered on this.

"Um, I guess Dr. Pepper would be good. Is there like a waiter or something?"

Meg laughed musically. "No, there's no need for that. Here watch."

She picked up her goblet, thought for a second, and then decided. "Pepsi with lime." The goblet filled itself up with Pepsi and then, a little lime wedge popped out of no where and was now perched on the edge of the goblet.

Meg turned to me expectantly. "Go on. Why don't you try it?"

I turned uncertainly toward my goblet. I felt Meg's eyes on me, so I picked up the goblet and said "Dr. Pepper. Please." I added in at the last possible second.

My goblet filled with the fizzy drink. I lifted it to my lips cautiously. It tasted amazing!

"Wow! This is so cool!"

Meg smiled genuinely at me. "I remember when someone told me to do that. I thought they were kidding until I actually tried it." She smiled at the memory.

I looked down, smiling, and I noticed that there was London broil sitting on my plate. I licked my lips hungrily. There was a biscuit and some mashed potatoes and gravy there now too. I noticed everyone was getting up and walking to the bronze brazier in the middle of the pavilion. I took note of what they were doing and turned to Meg.

"Meg? Why the heck is everyone burning their food?"

Meg looked up. "Oh shoot. You're right let's go." She took my forearm and led me to the brazier. She closed her eyes like she was praying and then swept a biscuit and a piece of steak into the fire. She turned and explained. "It's an offering to the gods. Take a second and say a prayer to whomever you are offering this part of your meal too. Then out it in the fire. The gods love the smell."

I didn't question that, though I've never heard of anyone saying they liked the smell of burned food before. I didn't object and did as I was told.

_To my Olympian mother, who ever you are. Please claim me soon. _I gave up about a third of my London broil and half of my biscuit into the fire. I really hoped she wasn't a vegetarian and I wouldn't be offending anybody. But the weird thing was, it didn't smell like burning meat. It actually smelled good, like a fresh batch of sugar cookies that had just come out of the oven. I inhaled deeply. Hopefully that would please my mother and she would claim me soon.

I liked Meg. She was pretty cool. She made the Hermes cabin okay. But still, it was over crowded and there was no room to breathe, let alone sleep. It sucked.

I walked back to cabin 11's table and sat down. I couldn't believe all of this was actually real. I wondered then that if the gods were real, did that mean the titans would be too?

After we were all excused from lunch, we headed back to our cabin. Not exactly the place I felt like going to, but okay.

Sensing my discomfort, Meg turned to me. "Wanna go down by the lake?"

I froze. "Not really, no." I mumbled.

Meg seemed a little shocked. "Uh, okay."

"Anywhere else you wanna take me, I'll go." I offered. "It's just that there was a bit of a…naiad incident." I explained.

"Oh. How about the sword arena?"

"Yeah. That sounds okay. Do you know if anyone from the Ares cabin is there though?" I was really nervous about that cabin. They were all so abnormally large, it was frightening.

"Are you a fast runner?" She asked.

"I'm in the middle, I guess. Why?" That question did _not_ improve my mood.

"I'm kidding." Meg grinned. "C'mon." She grabbed my arm and dragged me down the hill. I dug my heels into the ground as hard as I could, but she was persistent and her grip was firm.

"I can walk." I finally shook free from her steel like hold on my wrist.

"Suit yourself." Meg shrugged.

I followed sluggishly behind.

As we neared the arena, I saw a few other half-bloods practicing. From far away, all I could just about distinguish a tall boy with blonde hair, a girl shorter than him (but somebody I would still consider tall) who had strawberry blonde hair, someone else who, even from afar, resembled Violet. The girl was listening to her iPod so yes, that probably was her, a short girl with dark, curly hair, and one abnormally sized…

Oh gods.


	6. I Learn The History of Greek Poetry

The Shadow of the Moon

A Daughter of the Moon Trilogy Novel

Book 1

Chapter 6: I Learn the History of Greek Poetry

Crap!

The giant girl smiled at me, but not in a "huge girl want befriend little girl" way, more like a "huge girl going to swallow little girl whole" kind of way.

Gulp.

Even Meg seemed to stop dead in her tracks. "I was kidding about running, before!" She said sincerely to me.

I couldn't really reply to that.

The girl lumbered over to me, with someone equally as large, if not larger next to her. The slightly shorter one (by, about an inch, no more!) stopped a few feet from me.

"Who the hell are you?"

_Well at least she's _polite!

"I'm new." I said shortly.

"And I'm not. Now I'm going to ask you again- Who. Are. You?"

She was starting to sound like the caterpillar from Alice In Wonderland that got high from a hookah and spoke using pretty much only vowels.

"Shay. Leeeeeeeeen."

She narrowed her already beady eyes at me. "D'ya think you're funny?"

"No." _Maybe. _

"Good. _I'll _crack the jokes around here."

_And maybe some bones…?_

I shrugged. "Okay." I didn't want to dig a grave for myself here, but I certainly didn't want to cower in her presence- even if she did block the sun when she hung over 5'6" me.

"What's your problem?" She thundered.

"I don't have a problem."

"You better sleep with your eyes open, you little twit!"

Funny how she should say that. I felt like informing her that I was bunking in cabin 11 and it's impossible to find a place to sit, but I decided to just leave that out all together.

She turned to her friend behind her. "C'mon Charlie." the larger girl grunted like a wild animal which I'm going to guess was a response?

They walked off, the stringy-haired brunette one turned around and snarled at me as they headed toward the hill.

I gave her a little finger wave and she snarled before turning back around.

I turned to Meg. "Okay, now- was that a large human or a small animated skyscraper?"

"Both."

That was the response I expected.

"Come over here."

I followed Meg to the shed where the swords were kept.

"Here, try this one." She handed me one with a bronze blade and a pewter handle that was encrusted with tiny stones that looked like golden topazes. It was pretty heavy.

My first attempt at a slash was pretty pathetic. I missed the dummy all together. Jabbing was difficult, too.

The sword was heavy and kept wavering, or nose-diving toward the ground. After a series of failed attempts, I let the sword clatter to the ground.

"Is there some sort of magnetic field around me or something?" I huffed.

The strawberry blond girl shrieked and cupped her hands over her ears. "Ohmygawd! My earrings!"

Meg snorted.

I raised my eyebrows and looked at her for an explanation.

"Daughter of Aphrodite." She said like that was supposed to explain everything.

She noticed the confused look on my face. "Goddess of love, horny hook ups, beauty, twitter-pation, and other things that are more shallow than her daughter's IQ level."

` I nodded understandingly, and laughed.

The tall blond guy started laughing too, but much more loudly. He was tan and muscular with bright blue eyes and slightly shaggy blond hair. The shorter girl with dark, short, bouncy curls seemed confused and headed over. She'd been picking flowers, I think.

"Hey, I'm Alex: Son of Apollo." The blond guy introduced himself to me.

"I'm er, unduh…something…?"

"Undetermined..?" He finished for me. He smiled, revealing a row of perfect pearly white teeth.

"I think…soo…?"

He laughed. "I know what you mean."

The short girl finished skipping over. "Hi! I'm Laurel, daughter of Demeter." She chirped.

"I'm Shailene."

"Cool name." Alex said.

"Yeah what'sit mean?" Laurel asked inquisitively.

"I don't know, to be honest. My mom named me."

"Who's your mom?" Laurel asked.

"I…don't know, exactly." I stumbled.

"Oh.." Laurel trailed off. Her eyes flickered to cabin 11 and then gave me a look that said "_Ohhh…so you're in _that _cabin."_

"Yeah." Well that was an articulate response.

Aphrodite's daughter wandered over. "Hey. I'm Ashley!"

"Hi. I'm Shailene." I realized I hadn't said my name so frequently in such a short amount of time since the beginning of middle school.

After a long awkward silence, Laurel cried out. "Ooh! I know something fun we can do!"

Meg groaned and tilted her head back and Alex raised his eyebrows, and looked down at the ground."

"Who wants to go hunt for poison ivy?"

"No thanks," Alex said.

"That's not fun!" Ashley protested.

"You're an idiot," Meg mumbled, barely detectable.

"Ooh! 'The Idiot'! Isn't that a poem by the Greek dead guy Homo?" Ashley squealed.

Wow.

Meg rolled her eyes. "No smart one, that would be 'The Iliad, written by Hom_er._"

Even _I _knew that!

Laurel cocked her head to the side. "Is that the fat yellow dude in that cartoon? 'Ya know? He's obsessed with donuts?"

Holy crap.

"Hey, Laurel. I hear they're tearing down that huge evergreen near Zeus's Fist…." Alex trailed off.

Laurel gasped, and then shrieked. "NO! Not Ol' Faithful!"

"Um, yeah I think…" Alex said uncertainly.

_Woah wait a second… This chick _names trees_?_

"Oh my Zeus! I need to go get my rope, my bull horn and my protest sign!"

Laurel bolted toward cabin 4, which was drenched in vines and ivies, and emerged with a girl a little taller than her, and a guy with long, limp blond hair who wasn't wearing shoes. They sprinted into the forest carrying different tools of protest.

"Well," Alex said. "She's gone."

I couldn't help but laugh.

Ashley leaned in, her big blue eyes on Meg. "For a drachma I'll pretend I don't know anything about that scheme and was never here."

"Be my guest." Meg dug around in her pocket and tossed the gold coin at Ashley.

"Ooh! It's shiny! I can _see myself!" _Ashley squealed and ran towards the pond where a group of kids were sitting.

Meg rolled her eyes. "Maybe it's best if you try a different form of fighting. Perhaps archery?"

I always thought archery would be harder than sword fighting, but whatever. I usually tend to be better at difficult things because either I try to perfect the easy things, or I over think them. Another one of my flaws- I'm a crazy perfectionist.

"I have nowhere to go, and I'm pretty good. Do you guys mind if I go?" Alex asked.

Meg and I shook our heads. "Nah."

We all turned around and headed towards the archery range. I was starting to like it here, but certainly not my luck. Maybe archery would be better for me.

**AUTHOR'S NOTE: The joke I made about Homer was NOT meant to offend anybody in any way. I have nothing against homosexuals. I believe it's something they can't help. DO NOT comment on this chapter giving me your opinion about homosexuality. I do not care if you agree or disagree with me. It will be ERASED! **

**R&R guys!**

**Thank you**


	7. I Almost Accidentally Puncture A God

The Shadow of the Moon

A Daughter of the Moon Trilogy Novel

Book 1

Chapter 7: I Almost Accidentally Puncture A God

Well, when we arrived at the archery range, there were three other kids already practicing. One was a guy with short, brown hair and green eyes who Meg introduced him to me as Logan, son of Hera. Another was a girl with wheat colored hair and piercing gray eyes. Alex introduced her to me as Elena, daughter of Athena. The third was Dean, son of Hephaestus. He had dark brown hair and dark brown eyes.

"Here." Meg handed me a bow and a few arrows.

I took it from her, my hand caressing the smooth, polished cherry wood.

"Do you have any idea what you're doing."

"Nope." I admitted.

"Here." Alex took the bow from me and notched an arrow. I watched him, desperate to be able to learn some technique of fighting. His crystal blue eyes aligned with the target and attached themselves, like leeches to a human or anything bearing a scent of food. He drew back slowly, and in the blink of an eye (literally, I blinked and almost missed it) released the arrow. It sailed swiftly through the air, and struck the target on the very edge of the bulls-eye.

He smiled, clearly satisfied, and handed the bow to me. He got behind me and positioned my hands.

"Never, _ever _close one eye," he instructed from behind my left ear.

I slowly opened my left eye.

_Pssh. I knew that…_

"People think that helps, but you get two different views from two different eyes. That results in two different aims. You have a much lower percentage of accuracy if you close an eye. Trust me. Keep 'em open."

"'Kay."

He grabbed my hand which was clutched around the arrow.

"It's not solid gold," he joked. "You can relax you hand more."

I loosened my grip on it.

"Okay," He removed his hand from mine and slowly stepped backward. "When you're ready, fire."

I squinted at the target. I could feel the warm sun up ahead; its golden rays descending upon the crown of my head. I could hear the cheers of people at the sword fighting arena. A Slight breeze rustled the trees that were perched along the border of the forest. The breeze flickered through my hair, tousling a few strands lightly away from my face. When the breeze let up, I released my arrow.

It hit the first ring outward from the bulls-eye.

Good.

Meg, who was standing to my right, and slightly backhanded me another arrow. Alex helped me notch it, and then let me align everything own my own. I realized I was gripping my arrow tightly again, so I loosened up and then released.

My arrow struck in about the same area, except a little further from the bulls-eye.

"That was good," Alex instructed. He handed me another arrow. "Keep trying."

I nodded. I notched my arrow carefully, focusing on the bulls-eye. I took aim and fired.

Same area.

Oh my gods.

While I notched my next arrow, I saw Mr. D patrolling along the top of the hill watching us practice. He shot a particularly nasty glare at me.

Oh joy.

I was determined. I wanted to get this right, so badly.

Mr. D. seemed expectant. He took a sip of his Diet Coke. Managing to glare over the tip of the can at me while doing so.

I aligned everything.

_Please, um, Zeus? I think? Yeah we'll go with that. I want to impress Mr. D. I got off on the wrong foot. I want to prove myself worthy after that naiad incident. _

I slowly drew back, my eyes flickered to Mr. D. and then back to the target.

_Whoosh!_

Bulls-eye!

Yes!

Mr. D. was focused on Elena.

No!

"Wow." Meg said. I got my first bulls-eye like two weeks into camp. Then again, I arm myself with a sword so…that's really not a fair comparison." She laughed.

"No, that's _really _good." Alex raised his eyebrows.

"Thanks." I said. "Good thing too. I suck at sword fighting."

The three of us laughed.

Why? _Why couldn't that scrooge have witnessed that? _I screamed in my own mind.

I quickly grabbed another arrow and notched it before Mr. D. left. I tried not to put too much pressure on myself. Usually if I do that, it makes things worse. So I didn't. I wasn't groping the arrow like I would've Mr. D's neck (well, if I could find it). I had my shoulders down and I took my time to take aim.

I had a good feeling.

Then again, what do I know, anyway?

You know that feeling when you go to give an answer in class, but then you say the wrong thing even though you knew the answer and you're stomach fills with that '_Why would you _say _that?' _feeling? Or when your grandparents are over and you're in the middle of vividly describing a scene and you begin to utter a curse, and you realize it. So being the dumb-ass you are, you look at your mother out of the corner of your eye and she's giving you the evil eye/ "_You sure you wanna say that?" _look so you have to quickly change the word. Your grandparents don't notice (or they pretend not to, anyway) and your mother is looking at you still, but then the next time she blinks, her eyes are focused on something else on the other side of the room. Then, the embarrassment hangs over the room like a wet piece of linen on a clothesline trying to dry during a thunderstorm: hanging on for dear life and will not disappear.

Yes, yes. We all know the feeling. Well that's the feeling I had when I heard a pop, a growl, and a slight sound of running liquid, which kind of sounds like somebody relieving their bladder.

There was Mr. D. with coke running down his tiger print shirt and dribbling down his numerous chins. My arrow had struck in the side of his Diet Coke can during mid-sip. His bloodshot eyes met with mine and he slowly crushed the silver can in his hand.

And that was the end of my life.

No just kidding.

But I thought it was.

"Oh crap."

Meg attempted to stifle a laugh but it resulted in a very loud snort.

Logan smirked at me, Elena went back to practice pretending she hadn't noticed anything, and Dean just kept looking from me, to Mr. D., clearly waiting for a reply.

Mr. D. slowly pointed at me, then flipped his hand over an did that creepy beckoning thingy, (I don't know how else to describe it…but you guys know what I mean!) and then from that gesture pointed at the ground directly in front of him. So much so, if I was standing there, I'd be kneeling and being suffocated my his tremendous beer (er, wine?) belly. I sighed. I shoved the bow into Alex's hand and began the long march up to hill. Dionysus was still frozen in that position. The only thing that moved were his eyes. As I got closer, I could see purple flames flaring behind his dark irises.

Great.

When I was less than I foot away from him, I halted to a stop.

"Yes, Mr. D.?"

"_YOU ARE THE MOST CARELESS HALF-BLOOD HERE YOU TWIT!" BLAH BLAH BLAH BLAH…_ this is where I zoned out until the words "_YOU NEARLY _KILLED _ME!" _were bellowed. I relied on every ounce of will power available to me not to point out that as an Olympian, that couldn't truly happen. I just nodded my head.

"WHAT _DO YOU HAVE TO HAVE TO SAY FOR YOURSELF MISSY?" (wow, I never thought I'd hear an Olympian say _missy… _I don't know, just a thought.) _

"I'm really sorry Mr. D…."

"_THAT'S IT? YOU NEARLY KILLED ME AND ALL YOU CAN SAY IS '_SORRY'?"

"I swear, I would never do that on purpose…"

"_WELL THAT'S A LOAD OF JUNK! YOU HAD PRETTY GOOD AIM YOUNG MISS _(at this point, I'd prefer "missy") _WHEN YOU MADE THAT BULLS-EYE! _

So he _did _see. Splendid.

"No, sir, you don't understand.."

" _I UNDERSTAND PERFECTLY!" _His voice dripped with drama.

The whole valley was watching.

"The wind caught it!" I yelled. "It was beyond my control, sir!" (Notice how after I scream at a god, I manage to politely add in 'sir'…)

"Hmmph. Come with me Sherri-Ann…"… Oh my gods … "Now!"

I had no choice but to follow of course.

The conch bell rang for dinner, and everyone scrambled up to the Pavilion.

"Um, sir…"

"You can wait!" He growled fiercely.

"Okay."

We proceeded up the big house where a very familiar face waited on the white, peeling veranda as well…

**AN: MWAH HA HAAAA! EVVIILLL CLIFFIE! Stay tuned…**

**Oh! And R&R! =]**


	8. Surf's Up

The Shadow of the Moon

A Daughter of the Moon Trilogy Novel

Book 1

Chapter 8: Surf's Up!

The girl from the Ares cabin and the sword fighting arena smirked at me.

"Aw…Did the princess get a paper cut? There's a new invention called "the..Band…-Aid…" she said slowly in mock awe.

I continued to follow Mr. D.

"It should fix you white up wittle gurl."

I snorted. And threw her own smirk right back at her.

She started to laugh, and I let the screen door slam behind me, cutting her off.

Courtesy my Atlas!

Mr. D. led me into the parlor. Overstuffed terracotta armchairs that had obviously had some use were all circled around a table. Someone who looked a lot like that centaur guy I had met before was sitting there, and a black-haired guy, a little older than me with bright sea foam green eyes. I ogled the familiar looking guy. There was no way he was a centaur. For one thing, he was in a wheelchair.

The guy close to my age laid out his cards, looking defeated.

With much unexpected enthusiasm, the older man in the wheelchair slammed his down on the table, making it rattle slightly.

"Aha!"

"Aw, _man!" _

"What did I miss?" Dionysus demanded.

"Chiron's winning…again." The boy said exasperated.

"Hades' helm!" Dionysus said, clearly annoyed.

"Wait a minute. Did you say Chiron?" I asked

"Yeah." The guy looked at me wondering what was so fascinating about that. "Have you two met?" He asked.

"I don't know," I admitted. "I did meet somebody named Chiron earlier, but he was a centaur…Oh my gods!"

An empty wheelchair and a full form centaur were in Chiron's place.

"Am I missing something?" I screeched.

"The wheelchair magically hides my back half, my centaur form." Chiron explained patiently.

"Oh," I felt myself flush even though there was no way I could've know that.

"Anyway, Chiron, we have much more important matters at hand. Shailene nearly _struck me _with an arrow!" He whined, the words 'struck me' with such melodrama, I can barely fathom it, and I was _there! _He plucked the arrow from his mangled can and held it between his thumb and forefinger as though it were a piece of dirty laundry with Hilary's over powerful perfume worn into it. The musk is so overbearing that it's hard to stand within 6 feet of her.

Chiron raised an eyebrow.

"Sir, I swear, it was an accident! The wind got a hold of it and shifted its course!" I breathed.

Chiron opened his mouth to reply but Dionysus yelled, "Chiron! That girl is a trouble maker! I want her punished!"

"But it was beyond my control!" I tried desperately

"Was not! She aimed right for me! And she has good aim! She made a bulls-eye on her 4th try!"

"That was just some beginners luck!" I shrieked. "If the wind grabs it, there's nothing I can do at that point!" I retorted.

"Well…"

"STOP!" Chiron shouted. "Dionysus, Shailene meant no harm, and none was even caused! It punctured your soda can for goodness sake! If evidence arouses that it was on purpose somehow, WITHOUT prompting, then consequences will, of course, be sat in action as a reply."

I sighed with relief.

"Hmmph," Dionysus grunted. He turned on his heel and stormed out.

"What about our game of poker?" Chiron shouted after him, but it was too late. Dionysus had already let the door slam behind him.

The guy's bright eyes flickered back and forth.

I stood there awkwardly not sure what to do. Finally, I turned on my heel, looked over my shoulder and walked to the door. When I got there I said "I'm sorry I've wasted your time, sir."

"You can call me Chiron," he corrected gently.

"Okay."

I turned to leave again but I heard Chiron's soft voice. "Shailene?"

"Yes?"

He sighed. "For some half-bloods, trouble is just…attracted to them. I'm not sure if you're one of them, but I think you should try to mind your behavior, whether you meant that arrow to go askew or not. Today you've had some close calls. Be more careful, okay?"

I nodded. "Okay."

"Percy," Chiron turned to the guy who'd been sitting there the whole time. "I believe the conch has been signaled for dinner."

"Aw, what about our game?"

"Let's divide all the money in half. I'm sure Dionysus isn't coming back to continue the game," he said reasonably.

Percy shrugged and swept half of the pile towards him. He pulled out a blue suede pouch and placed it near the edge of the table. H planted his arm down in a semi-circle around the drachmas and swept the lot into the pouch. He tied the string around it and joined me on the way to the pavilion.

"Wow," he said. "I haven't seen someone in so much trouble since I first started out here," he laughed genuinely.

"Uh, thanks?" I said sarcastically.

"It's true."

"Why does Dionysus hate children, even though he has his own?"

"I don't think he hates children, I just think he doesn't want to be here watching them, or be here at all," Percy said thoughtfully.

Yeah, _that's _it.

I shrugged and stuffed my hands into the corners of my pockets. I mindlessly played with a piece of lint. I wasn't sure what else to say, really.

We reached the pavilion and Percy made his way to the cabin 3 table.

I sat down at the cabin 11 table.

Meg elbowed me. "Well?"

"I'm not going to be expelled or kicked out, whatever you call it here…point is, I'm not in trouble."

Meg widened her eyes at me. "Wow."

I nodded.

I stood up and walked over to the buffet tables. I piled some baked ziti onto my plate. I also grabbed a piece of garlic bread before heading over to the brazier that burned brightly and tirelessly in the center of the pavilion. I scraped some in and about half of the bread before I retired to my seat.

I stacked as much pasta as I could until the prongs of forks were no longer visible. I opened my mouth wide and ate as much as I could. I love Italian food, but it made me think of my dad. He made the best baked ziti I'd ever had. My dad wasn't the best cook but when he made dishes he knew how to, they were pretty good. His ziti was a recipe his mom's mom used to make all the time. I thought about my dad. He's a New York City lawyer who dedicates a lot of his time to his job. That's why my dad barely knows how to cook. Ever since I was seven, he'd had plenty of time to spend with me.

And then he'd met Hilary…

And that's when things changed. He met her when a friend of his was handling her divorce case. They met and they got married. He felt I needed a mom. I hate when parents do that- assume their kids are helpless without a second parent. They got married and had the twins. Ever since they married my dad started working longer hours. I actually kind of liked it when the twins were born. Hilary stopped trying to transform me into her private Barbie doll. I could lock myself in my room and read all I wanted without getting another dreadful makeover. I wouldn't mind it if it didn't consist of curling my already extremely wavy hair, nearly burning me, streaking bright pink or blue eye shadow across my eyes, making them look dull and poo brown instead of a pretty, interesting hazel, and bright red lipstick that looked like I'd been making out with a cup of fruit punch. I looked like the creepy lunch lady who croaks "Whaddya want honey?" before you even see what food (mystery meats) she's serving whose mole resembles the disgusting, rubbery meatballs served there.

I sighed and directed my attention to the sun up above. It was starting to slowly sink in the sky. Like a magical vacuum cleaner was dragging it slowly towards its doom, only to be rewarded with the privilege to rise again in a few hours.

Meg turned to me, while consuming her pork chops and macaroni and cheese. "Hey," she said with a semi-stuffed mouth. "A bunch of us are going to the beach later."

"And doing what?"

"Whatever."

I sighed, and then laughed. "Who's going?"

"Me, Violet, Alex, Alison, Elena, Logan, Dean, and maybe a few other people."

She had me at Alex.

"Sure. Sounds good to me."

We finished eating and gathered the small group going. Meg and I ran back to cabin 11 and grabbed a bathing suit. My favorite purple and sea-foam green tie-dyed bikini was neatly folded amongst my clothes.

Ali. I smiled to myself. I changed quickly in the bathrooms near the sword arena and ran to catch up with Meg and Elena.

Elena was a lot prettier up close. She had pretty, wavy blond hair that flowed a few inches past her shoulders that seemed trained to know how to catch light perfectly. She had stormy gray eyes that were absolutely breath-taking. Her long, willowy legs took gracious steps and she looked perfect in a blue and white striped string bikini.

We engaged in some small talk for a little while as we were walking through the little area of woods that had to be passed until we reached the beach. We all through our clothes and belongings into a little heap and headed for the water.

It was around six o'clock, and the sun was slowly descending into the western horizon. I ran as fast as my legs would carry me, but had to slow down once I was at least knee-deep in the crashing water. A medium size wave was about to crash upon the shore, and I dove under it, in anticipation to escape it's cold, salty claw.

I cut almost swiftly through the water. The wave was going in the opposite direction and posed a bit of a struggle for me, but I managed to get through without breaking too much of a sweat.

My head ripped through the silky surface of the water as a small wave rippled gently over me. I heard Meg scream "Woo-hoo!" as she rode over a large approaching wave. I turned around, it was right there. I rode it up as it reached it's climax. I slid down the back of it as it crashed.

Meg was swimming toward me, her sopping wet ponytail plastered to her shoulder. I ran a hand over my own hair. Salt water seemed to do what no salon could. I played with my hair, feeling like I was really playing with silk. If only this were an everlasting effect.

"Did you ride that one?" She shrieked, a smile playing lightly with the corners of her mouth until it spread all the way up to the apples of her cheeks, like butter slowly melting on a piece of freshly toasted bread.

"Yeah, right as it crashed."

"Dude, I wish I'd done that!" She mock-pouted.

We were so far out that I played with the sand beneath and between my toes. We must've been near a sand-bar. There were rocks that towered out of the water. One had a perfect place to sit. I clambered upon it and pulled my legs to my chest, watching the horizon begin to yellow, and the sun begin to redden. A few people had left already. Elena laid on the beach instead to tan, Violet was doing the same, except listening to her iPod. Ryan had disappeared completely, and Dean was making his way toward the shore. Alison, was floating on her back serenely. I prodded her gently and pointed to an oncoming wave. She nodded and ducked under, smoothing out her hair. It wasn't as large as the last one, so we drifted over it, somewhat bored with it's dull edge.

At this point, Tom, son of Dionysus and Dean were making their way through the woods. Violet clearly wasn't a beach person and did the same.

I went over to my rock again, and sat on the little platform. Tiny waves rippling against my toes which hung suspended in front of me, my feet pointed so that my toes were dipping slightly downward. Another tiny ripple brushed a string of seaweed in between my big and the next. I pinched it gingerly and tossed it aside absent-mindlessly. I pulled my legs up to my chest watching Elena disappear through the woods with a brunette chatting continuously beside her.

Alex, who'd been swimming around, came over to me and crossed him arms and rested them on the rock next to my feet. His dog tags fluttered about softly in the rippling water. He tapped me lightly.

"Hey, high-tide's coming. How about you and Meg come back to the Apollo cabin with me so I can grab a surfboard for myself, and maybe you or Meg?"

"I'll come, but you can forget about the surfboard. I have no idea how to surf."

He shrugged. "Do you want me to teach you? It's not that bad once you get the hang of it."

"Sure," I shrugged. I slipped into the water, and we swam to the shore.

Meg joined us as we started into the woods.

It wasn't long before we reached the cabin and he came out, carrying an electric blue board with an electric yellow stripe down the middle. He carried in his other arm, a hot pink board with a lime green stripe.

"Manly," I teased chin-pointing at the pink board.

He laughed. "Thanks. Only a real man can pull off pink you know," he winked. "Nah, I'm kidding this is my sister Casey's board," he explained as he set them on the deck to close the door. "Thanks, sis!" he yelled.

I went to take the board, but he shrugged me away. "It's ok, I got it."

I shrugged.

Chiron walked out of the Big House and called down the hill. "Meg! May I have a word?"

Meg replied, "Sure!" She turned to me. "Hey," she whispered in my ear, noticing Alex was busying himself returning to get the wax. "it's a sign from your mom," she teased. "Go get 'im girl!" She gave me a little push and smiled as I felt myself begin to blush. "I'll just go back to my cabin. Will you grab my stuff for me?"

"No problem. Consider us even," I said half-joking.

She smiled, and turned and ran up the hill.

Alex came back out. "Hey, where's Meg?"

"Chiron needed her. I dunno why."

I didn't lie.

"Oh," he shrugged. "Okay," he smiled warmly at me.

Consider yourself lucky, you're getting a private lesson."

~~~ *( ~~~

I gripped the board as Alex finished helping me wax it. He grabbed his up in his right hand. "Are you ready?"

"Probably as ready as I'll get to break my neck on the ocean floor," I joked. "but, ready."

We padded to the shore line and waded in.

"Okay, so first you're going to lie flat across the board…right, like that…and you're going to put one arm on either side, and paddle yourself out further."

He started, so I followed his example.

I began to lose my balance, so he went to grab a hold of me, but I'd already steadied myself.

"I'm fine, I'm fine," I said quickly.

"You sure?" He said, not budging, his arms, outstretched, frozen in midair.

I nodded.

"Okay, now there's a wave ahead, you're going to try to turn your body however you can to keep your balance. Make sure you plant your feet firmly on your board, and turn to the side, slightly."

I nearly fell again, trying to shift my weight.

"Watch out for that. That's because your body weight wasn't distributed evenly on the board. That's why angling yourself helps. Spread your feet out a little bit, little by little…careful…right. Are you following so far?"

"Yeah, makes sense." I replied.

"Okay, now get ready for the wave. Normally, you'd ride right up to it and jump up quickly in time to ride it, but I needed to teach you the basics, first."

"Okay."

"Alright. See this wave…?" he paused as he waited for a conformation, "…Okay, just try and stay above either until the wave crashes, or as long as you can, whichever lasts longer," he chuckled.

"Ready…? Go!"

And then the wave scooped me up, and I took all of his advice into consideration. I pretended I was riding the Wave board, something long forgotten since it came out quite a few years ago. I swiveled my feet, and urged the board to the left. The wave crashed, rather gently I felt, or maybe just more gently than I'd anticipated, and it deposited me off at the other end- in one piece. I curved outward, and then back in across the surface of the water to come to a start.

"Good," he praised.

I rode a small one, now, and it died a lot quicker than before.

I rode another medium sized wave, but slipped off.

"Good try, good try," Alex coaxed me gently. "Are you alright."

I coughed, but then nodded. "I'm fine."

He nodded.

There was a huge wave approaching in the distance, and he turned to me. "You don't have to try this one, it might be hard for a beginner," he warned.

"I want to try," I insisted.

He shrugged. "Okay. But stick close to me, just in case," he added softly at the end.

I nodded, "Alright."

I paddled out, and then, right at the foot of the wave, I stood up.

I remained up for a moment or two, but the wave crashed, catching me as it curled over mercilessly. I sputtered, unprepared for the drop. I barreled into the back of the rock. My back ached, and I opened my eyes for a split second to search for Alex when I saw something that nearly made my heart stop.

It was a woman swimming towards me, it looked like a mermaid, but ai knew that couldn't be true. He long black-blue hair fanned outward, and as her tail flicked, I saw a rattle at the end of it.

She was half serpent.

That was the one thing I was afraid of.

Snakes.

I widened my eyes in fear. She smiled maliciously, revealing sharp, threatening fangs. I gulped, and realized I had to surface to breathe soon. I kicked for the surface. Alex was crouched, agilely on the platform searching for me. I nearly smacked him in the head, when I surfaced.

I sputtered. "there's a-a woman. N-no. Not a woman, she's half snake, or someth-thing. I don't know, She had a rattle on the end of her tail, and, and fangs! Huge sharp fangs. His eyes widened. "Lamia" he muttered.

He pulled me up onto the rock, next to him, both of us, searching through the murky water for any sign of her.

Her head poked up through the water, and smiled that creepy smile, almost like a smirk at us.

"Hello, my _darling _half-bloodssssss." She lilted.


	9. This Is As Close To A Mermaid I'll Get

The Shadow of the Moon

A Daughter of the Moon Trilogy Novel

Book 1

Chapter 9: This Is As Close To A Mermaid I'll Get

I shrieked.

She cackled, clearly entertained.

"Why sssssoooooooo glum?" She drawled as she began to circle the rock. "I mean no harm." She drew slightly back, and floated on her, um, back…? Her serpent tail's brown scaled were shimmering and glinting in the setting sun, giving off a reddish hue. Some produced a purple or orange undertone. Her tail flicked quietly as it cut across the surface of the water here and there, like it had a mind of its own.

"What do you want, Lamia?" Alex demanded. I saw him fingering his dog tags.

"Nothing," she said nonchalantly.

"They why are you here?" He demanded again.

"Relaxx," she hissed. "I wass ssent with a…warning if you will," she said, her pronunciation of the letter _s _sounding very snake-like.

Alex's eyes drew dark as he ripped the dog chains from his neck.

She stopped floating and assumed a more vertical position. Ssssomething horrible iss going to happen," she lowered her voice, he already dark eyes growing darker. "Sssomeone horrible is out to desssstroy your preciousss camp." A look of satisfaction passed from one eye to another, and I could tell she was enjoying holding us in suspense.

"Who?" Alex barked.

"I cannot sssay…well I wasn't _told _I cannot sssay, but it was certainly implied," she croaked, her voice so low, I could barely hear her.

Not realizing what we were doing, we leaned forward in anticipation, straining to hear her. She popped up, and held her torso up, her hands clutching the rock.

"Jusstt, watchh," and she slowly began to sink back into the water, her left eye glowing gold, her right eye glowing a shade of aquamarine. All of a sudden, she popped them both out with her hands.

I started to scream, horrified, but Alex's strong hand clamped tightly over my mouth.

Smiling, Lamia helf them in her palms and muttered some words, hissing as she went. They began to rise from her hand, swirling in a green mist and becoming one. A lime green orb was floating above our heads. Slowly revolving, the orb began to flicker and grow larger. Soon a man and a gigantic beast were shown, but they weren't shown at all. They were standing in a green fog, their silhouettes perfectly clear, their features, not so much. Then, an image of a panicked camp, Chiron calling for order, but lots of screams and running around, also silhouettes in the fog. And finally, a battle on a hill with a large pine tree and a dragon, and two armies fighting and slowly merging until soon, there'd be lots of casualties and only a small group would remain until they fought it out.

Without warning, the orb burst, as quickly as a bubble pops, much like that actually, and Lamia was holding her two eyes again, each one still aglow in their own color. She slowly fitted them back into her head, a low hissing sound surrounding them as she did so.

She rolled them back into place, sighing happily as she did so. For a moment no one said a word. He tail swished above water a few times before I said, "Well?"

"She smiled stealthily. "Well what?"

Alex sighed, clearly losing his patience with this demon. "What do you _want?" _

"You know what I feed upon, right young man," Alex didn't reply. Instead, he held out his dog tags in front of him, brandishing them, like a sword.

In a moment, I'd know why.

He murmured, "φως επάνω ενώπιον μου," and the necklaces began to grow into a huge celestial bronze sword with a golden hilt. He thrust it through Lamia's chest. "_NNNNNNOOOOOOOO!" _She screamed, a typhoon of water swirling around her, she burst into a ton of green dust.

Alex and I stood there, and the wind and waves combined swept it away into the water. A large wave crashed and that was the last we saw of her.

The sky was darkening in one direction, light slightly above, but mostly ahead, while the horizon was yellowing. Pink and blue swirled clouds that looked like cotton candy were strewn across the sky in light wisps. A ruby red sun glittered strongly for a few more minutes of glory, and then was drowned in the horizon.

Well, there went a huge waste of a perfectly romantic evening with a perfectly gorgeous guy.

The Fates must _really _be _loving _me today.

I threw my arms around him. "You saved me," I said, breathless. He pated me softly or the back. "Er, you're welcome."

Yeah, I know, I sounded all "damsel in distress-y," but I _was._

"Hey!" A girl screamed from the shore. She had a fierce fire of hatred in her bright blue eyes and long wavy auburn hair that was braided with champagne ribbons.

"What?" I shouted.

"Get away from him!" She growled.

"Who do you think you are?"

She sighed impatiently and put her hands on her narrow hips.

"I'm his _girlfriend!_"

And so went my last chance of a happily ever after ending to the night.


	10. Well This Is Awkward

The Shadow of the Moon

A Daughter of the Moon Trilogy Novel

Book 1

Chapter 10: Well This Is Awkward

I glanced at Alex. He looked down embarrassed. "Christa, I was _just _teaching her how to surf!" He yelled. He held up his board. He nudged me, so I held up mine.

Christa still looked extremely angry. Her teeth were gritted. "_I'm _your girlfriend! Why are you hanging out alone with her then?"

"Meg left last minute!" Alex retorted. "We weren't doing anything, I swear!"

"What was _that _then?" She screamed, referring to the hug she'd witnessed.

"She was thanking me for something…" he started.

"He defeated a monster when I couldn't do anything!" I answered.

The girl rolled her eyes, and stalked off.

I grunted and dove into the water, embarrassed. I swam for the shore as fast as I could, not looking back for Alex. I waded out, grabbed my stuff and ran. I changed back in the bathroom. When I emerged, I saw Alex talking to a pretty blond haired, green-eyed girl in the doorway of his cabin. I ran for the shelter of cabin 11, but he saw me.

"Shailene!"

I ignored him and ducked inside. The Hermes cabin was playing truth or dare. Meg looked up at me excitedly, but I shook my headed no, and proceeded to my sleeping bag. I grabbed a book that Meg had been reading. It was on Greek monsters.

I snatched it up and searched for Lamia. I finally found her on page 226. It was in Greek, but somehow it made sense to me despite my dyslexia. I didn't even _know _Greek!

Oh yeah…Alison had mentioned that earlier today on the way down to the lake…

Anyways, back to Lamia…

I picked up the book and started to read. It said:

_Lamia was once a beautiful queen of Libya, whom Zeus was very fond of. Hera found out about Zeus's affection and punished Lamia, by transforming her into a horrible beast and killing nearly all of her children save a few, the most known being Scylla. (See page 358). Zeus gave Lamia the talent of prophecy, and gave her the ability to take her own eyes out…_

Well that explains a lot.

…_Lamia is usually sent by the Titans to destroy heroes, or quest adventurers. Lamia is known for eating children…_

Oh, so we got some Greek cannibalism going on here? Well then again she's only _half _human. She's serpent too…

…_out of grief and desire for revenge due to the loss of her own. This demon can survive in water…_

No kidding?

…_or on land. Lamia can of course be killed by the average celestial bronze, by which any monster can be killed with._

I couldn't help but wonder why a monster would warn us of evil, if they themselves were evil? It didn't make sense!

I laid the book down, and as soon as my head hit the pillow, I heard Meg dare her brother, Tony, to kidnap an Aphrodite daughter in a burlap sack, wearing a ski mask, and then leave her in the woods in a fishing net with a skunk as a roommate.

This challenge was followed by a ton of cheers and the slam of our storm door, as the camper set out, materials in hand, along with a willowy red-head with a flip camera, on his own little quest.

If my dignity hadn't just been destroyed, I would have been all for this quite honestly. I laid down and got bored, so I thumbed through a magazine that lay on the mattress of a temporarily abandoned bunk bed. I got bored with that, too. I poured out the contents of my bag. There was my favorite peasant blouse. It was white and had a square neckline, with an empire waistline, and short, slightly, but barely, puffy sleeves. It had some beading between the neckline and the waistline; right smack on the front. I had a medium-wash denim skirt with slight fraying on the hem, a pair of strappy, black, leather sandals, a pair of flip-flops, a few pairs of tops, and some shorts.

There was a t-shirt I didn't recognize however. It was bright orange with a centaur galloping past a pine tree, sword in hand on the front. There was something written in an arch over the illustration. I tried to read it, but my dyslexia jumbled the letters a bit. I managed to make out "Camp…..Half-..Blood."

Well that made sense didn't it? As I unfolded the last fold, a small picture frame fell into my lap. Inside, like a bear hibernating in a cave, was a picture of myself, Casey, and my dad. My dad's brown black hair still occupied his head- all of it. It was beginning to thin, however. Crows' feet were surrounding his dark amber eyes slightly, like baby spider webs. This had been taken last year when I was twelve. Casey's front teeth had been missing, which had now fully grown in. On my lap was my German Shepherd, then puppy, Maddy. She was a little over a year and a half old now.

I fingered the delicate frame, and then let my fingers glide gently across the smooth glass. I missed home already. So far, I hated it here,

And then a thought popped into my head- I had to tell Chiron about Lamia. I grabbed a flashlight from Meg's "prank pillowcase," which she always tucked between her bunk and the wall it was up against, and tore through it until I found a flashlight.

I crept out the door, and ran across the dew covered hill, up to the Big House. I asked one of the nurses who worked in the infirmary- Marguerite- where Chiron slept. She instructed me how to find his cabin, and I bolted up the stairs before she could finish her last sentence.

Oh, ADHD…

I rapped my knuckles against the white painted door, and Chiron opened it. I wasn't the only one there. Alex was sitting in an armchair in an old T-shirt and a pair of navy sweatpants, near the fireplace, probably there for the same reason I was.

"Come in," Chiron gestured to the other chair by the fireplace, clearly with good intentions, but I had a feeling similar to that, I'm _assuming_- this has never happened to me before- of when a creepy stranger informs you that you need to get _into _the van to receive the candy or see the puppy or whatever shit they can come up with.


	11. The Sigh Life

The Shadow of the Moon

A Daughter of the Moon Trilogy Novel

Book 1

Chapter 11: The Sigh Life

I think Chiron sensed my discomfort (I'm _very _discreet when it comes to my emotions). He repeated his gesture, but not his words. He pulled his eyebrows upward while doing this.

_Is that a challenge, o' centaur?_

I cast the medieval voice in my head aside and reluctantly sat down, opposite Alex. We made eye contact briefly before we looked away: I into the flames that blazed freely to my left, he to his feet, and then the carpet beneath the chair he was sitting in.

Chiron sensed the discomfort. Again, so he moved on. "Shailene," he started, "are you here because of the whole…Lamia business," he prodded solemnly, but gently.

I nodded quietly.

"Alright, well Alex pretty much told me everything I need to know. We are doubling patrols and enforcing the magic that protects our borders. You two can go. Shailene, I may have a favor to ask of you in the morning," his brown weary eyes pierced through an invisible layer of penetration that surrounded my own big hazel eyes, and they bore into me. I sensed fear, determination, anger and sorrow all at once, like a wave crashing over me, and rushing in to barrel itself with all of its strength at an innocent, unsuspecting shore.

I closed the door with a quiet _click._ I whirled around, and as expected, but not quite hoped, Alex was standing there, leaning casually against the wall with one shoulder, while the opposite hand from this shoulder was fingering his front pocket.

He broke the silence first. "Well?"

"Well, what?" I asked on purpose, really dreading to give my answer.

"We were having such a great time," he groaned softly.

"Yeah, until your _girlfriend _showed up," I bitterly emphasized the word "girlfriend".

"I don't understand why you're getting so upset! Did I do something wrong?"

I sighed. "I guess you didn't, I just…thought the situation meant…more than it really did. I guess I was kind of…disappointed is all."

"Well why wouldn't you talk to me?" He sounded slightly hurt.

"I was embarrassed, I guess," I mumbled.

"I'm sorry…" he started.

"Look, I'm really tired, can I go back to my cabin, please?"

"Hang on. Look, Christa can overreact…a lot," he grabbed my arm and gripped it firmly so it was hard to move, but it didn't hurt. "Please don't be mad at me." he coaxed sweetly. "I won't deny that I was having fun too, because, as guilty as I feel about it, I kind of was…"

"Yeah, you feel guilty! That's why I'm mad!"

"Because I'm trying to stay loyal to my girlfriend?"

"No, because you knew you were doing something completely, if not relatively, wrong! If I would have known about your girlfriend, I wouldn't have been all for a private surfing lesson with you. Don't you find that kind of…weird?"

"I didn't mean for it to be…" he protested.

"But it _was!_"

"Look, how can I make it up to you?"

"Wanna know how? Don't!" I turned on my heel to storm away, but his voice stopped me.

"I wasn't trying to do anything more than I said I was going to do," he said calmly over my shoulder.

I turned my head to reply to that, but he had already turned and was heading a different way down the hallway.

I threw my hands up in exasperation, and turned to leave; my first step came out a stomp. Part of me felt bad, and wanted to go apologize, and tell him he was right. But the stubborn part of me, the part that always seemed to win, controlled my muscles: it forced my bones and tendons to drag my body back to my cabin, numbed my tongue, and forced my lips into a thin line, enforcing that I couldn't say a word. This part, the suborn part, took over my whole brain, and fuming, ran all the way back to my cabin, without even a twitch of my head of doubt or guilt.

**A/N: Yes I know this is focusing more on the romance part of my romance/ adventure/fiction fanfic, but next chapter is going to have lots of action in it. I promise you. Lately I feel like I've been hitting a dead end, so I'm starting to bounce back. I think you'll like the chapters to come. Thank to a few of my reviewers:**

**SonofHestia11**

**TheOnlyMarauderette**

**And who is most likely, my most faithful reviewer: The Ocean Is My Inkwell**


	12. Mummy, May I?

The Shadow of the Moon

A Daughter of the Moon Trilogy Novel

Book 1

Chapter 12: Mummy, May I?

I got a very late start at sleep that night. I arrived at my cabin in time to see someone in a ski mask, presumably Tony, and the red head, Robyn, arriving simultaneously with me. Tony was cracking up and Robyn was sniggering- bit of phrases and something about YouTube poked through her snorts like shards of glass rip through saran-wrap.

The game responsible for their jest went on for another hour after that, and then everyone was talking, save for a few brave souls- they'd be punished later when they woke up with a shaving cream beard or a frog in their bunk, however. Meg must have persisted that no one prank me. Either that, or the frog already hopped away…

I was up about fifteen- twenty minutes before the breakfast conch blew, or so was informed. Meg was re-stocking her supply of shaving cream, worms, and other forms of cruel and/or unusual (mostly unusual with her though) forms of "punishment". I kind of felt bad for the people receiving these…um, tokens of humor, but for the most part, they were pretty harmless, so I kept to myself.( I did however make a mental note to stay away from the pens that were "cursed by Zeus" that way when you touch them, you get a shock so punch-packed, it's nearly equivalent to the maximum number of voltage a body can hold until electrocution. You don't even have to click them! It's _zzzzt! Shock on contact!_)

Meg, of course, asked about my surf lessons, but I quietly informed her the direction they went in.

"Ah, Christa," she said half-heartedly, yet angrily.

"She's a bitch (pardon my language), isn't she?" I asked, even though I'd made my mind up on my own.

Meg nodded sagely while staring at the ground as though contemplating the meaning of life. She jerked her head upward, we made eye contact, and then a small smile slowly spread across her lips. "I have a plan," she said simply.

"I don't wanna know," I lightly brushed past her and headed to the bathroom to brush my teeth. After that, I attacked my hair with a brush in an attempt to tame my stubborn bed head. I took a small chunk of hair from each side of my head and started braiding- starting right from where the hair protruded from the follicles near my temples, and braiding them each about halfway down. I took a pretty silver barrette-like clip that had an intricate design of silver swirls and pinned the two pieces together where the braiding ending, and trapped some of the rest of my hair in the clip to fasten the two sections together. The rest of the hair- what wasn't braided- cascaded down to meet the rest of my hair. My rebellious side bangs plopped out of the loose hold they were in, and I pushed the aside, frustrated. I brushed through them quickly, and then got dressed. I selected a sky-blue tank top with a thin, braided, brown leather belt, my denim skirt, and a pair of Converse sneakers. Original, and plain, they weren't any flashy neon color- just plain black. Prior to my new discoveries- I'd only had time to search 1/3 of my bag so this was amongst the rest of the content I'd failed to survey.

A conch sounded from the pavilion. As we walked there, Meg brought up Alex again. "Look don't be too upset. Alex likes to fluctuate between girls more than an Aphrodite daughter between the exact shades of highlights they want" Meg rolled her eyes at her own simile in disgust. "Christa's a snob- ignore her."

"Wait, if you knew he had a girlfriend, why'd you want me to be alone with him?"

"Last I knew, they broke up" she shrugged it off with ease.

"Well you knew he was a player!"

"I didn't use the word _'player'_."

"But you _implied _it!" I spat growing more and more frustrated.

"Look, I thought if you two were special enough together…he'd, you know…settle down a bit," she lowered her voice to a half-whisper.

She had an answer for everything, so I gave up. I served myself some French toast with cinnamon, a small cinnamon bun, and a little bit of bacon. During the routine sacrifice of a portion of our meals, I tossed in a piece of bacon, and pretty much my whole cinnamon bun.

I sat down, exhausted-even _with _a good night's sleep, and emptied Aunt Jemima's guts onto my French toast. What _was _it with every syrup brand looking like an older woman…It was kind of creepy…I pushed the weird thought only I'd think of out of my head and began to eat.

Not even halfway through breakfast, Chiron announced there would be a capture the flag, which I was pleased to hear. It wasn't until after dinner though, but it definitely gave me something to look forward to at least. I turned around to talk to Meg, but I found she'd disappeared. I went back to my food. She'd be fine…

Kind of.

Turns out, she'd slipped a tiny, plump worm and gold food dye into Christa's goblet, which was filled with water, and Violet was enchanting it to smell like, but not taste like, alcohol. The goblet was glass all around except for a thin strip of gold that was about a pinky finger in width and went around the rim of the goblet. Each was encrusted with 1 of the 12 birthstones into the golden area (1 per cabin). Ares was ruby- the color of blood (shocker!), Zeus was diamond (the most valuable- also never would've guessed…), Hera was emerald, Athena-opal, Hermes- peridot, and so on… Point is, it made it look like she was chugging tequila instead of water, and Chiron punished her by making her clean the bathrooms for a week. Yeah, that's bathroom_s_…with an _s…_

Naturally, I did what anyone would do…ignore it and pretend you know nothing, which, until Meg told me, was pretty much what was going on in my head.

"Where do you come up with these ideas?" I half-shrieked, half cackled at Meg. I was clutching my chest and biting the inside of my cheek to stop myself so she could tell me.

She shrugged. "My brothers Travis and Connor give me pointers sometimes." She pointed at the chariot race track where two guys a little older then us were, no doubt, causing mischief. One was tediously placing thumb tacks flat down (pointy side _up!) _in alignment with the course the Hephaestus team's chariot would take. Their horses were made of bronze, so the tacks wouldn't hurt them…just dent them a little…

The other brother was spreading a thin layer of oil on the chariot's wheels while the Hephaestus kids were readying their horses in the workshop. I laughed and shook my head.

Rookie mistake- leaving your stuff unguarded and near a bunch of Hermes kids. Even _I, _being here for an incredibly short time knew better than that.

I tore my eyes away from the Dynamic Duo over there, and picked up my fork, dragging it around and around in the syrup.

"Shailene?"

I looked up at my name, instinctively, - like a puppy. I saw Alex there in front of me. All of my table had cleared out. Even Meg had left and was in the corner, doing business for a particularly nasty substance with some Dionysus kid. He was wearing one of those leather jackets that had a thousand pockets in it that smugglers in New York City are famous for wearing. I smirked. _That _doesn't read 'suspicious' at all… Pssh…

"Look, I'm sorry I ran off last night, but I was embarrassed, okay? But I don't want another speech about your girlfriend. I told you last night that I understood, okay?"

He stood there for a moment, choosing his next words. "I'm glad," he said solemnly. "I was wondering if you and Meg wanted to come to the beach again tonight? … As friends," he took his hands out of his pockets and outstretched his arms, stationing them directly in front of his chest, as though I'd karate chop him or something.

I nodded. "That sounds great, _friend._" I smiled, silently making fun of his "as friends" remark as if I hadn't understood that going would imply we were friends.

He smiled, obviously understanding my sarcasm. That was good. He should sure get used to that.

"I'll ask Meg," I said.

He nodded. "Invite anyone else you can think of," he suggested.

"Okay." I walked away feeling slightly better than I had at breakfast. I informed Meg, who more than happily agreed to go. From the same kid who sold her that weird stuff that looked like pickled liver also sold her a bag of marshmallows, that when they heated and came in contact with saliva, would swell to the size of softballs, and a particularly suspicious bag that sizzled and fizzed like pop rocks. What ever was in their made a popping sound, and sounded and smelled acidic. I could just picture the mystery substance, or object burning a whole through the bad and acting like gasoline, and setting something on fire.

Wouldn't surprise me, with Meg.

I was assuming they would be building a bonfire tonight at the beach, which was why Meg had suddenly purchased the swelling marshmallows- hoping some oblivious soul would mistake them for average marshmallows. The jar of…whatever it was… was probably a shoe-filler. I glanced down at my Converse shoes, and silently hoped Meg would be merciful to them.

I heard a frantic sound of hooves, and turned around to find myself face to face with Chiron.

"Meg, Shailene, a word?" he panted.

We glanced at each other, knowing something must be wrong, and sprinted up the hill to the Big House. We looped around the wraparound deck, and came to a halt, as a repetition of Chiron's actions on the very top level of the deck- the French doors to the infirmary directly behind us, though any hopes of a view inside (gods know _why _you'd want to look in there…) were obscured by gauzy curtains. There was a octagonal table where Dionysus sat, and Chiron's wheelchair was parked. Sitting there was also Alex, and Ryan Murphy who looked as stiff as an ironing board. He had been involved with the bus incident as well. He looked similar to Alex, with his blond hair and athletic build, but Ryan had deep chocolate brown eyes and wasn't as tan. He was also a bit taller than Alex (even though Alex was already tall…) and had a very square jaw.

Meg and I glanced at every face staring up at us, each one more expectant than the next. We each took seats.

Chiron folded his hands, looking very professional. Or at least as professional as a guy with a horse's ass can look, but ya know…

"There is a great deal of trouble going on at Mount Olympus. Half-Bloods around the world are disappearing, and a large number of monster attacks going on in the California area. We cannot afford to lose such valuable members to our side… Especially in such times of terror. We have a hunch, and we believe Artemis has a reason as to why this is going on…She and her Hunters left, simply stating they were 'going west', which they rarely do. Artemis hardly ever endangers her Hunters like that…I think we need to breech the security of the pack, and _find out. _Personally, I believe Artemis is on the trail of something she is being too stubborn to tell the other gods. She and Hades are in a feud right now, too. Some half bloods have been claiming they've been to hell, and, most likely, Artemis suspects them of being kidnapped and tortured by the King of the Dead…"

He plopped a newspaper in front of us.

Eleven year old twins are sent to asylum- claiming they've "been to hell".

"My guess is, this is the Underworld, and these kids are half- bloods. This isn't the first case…" He stopped and pulled out other articles, books, and other references.

Chiron stopped to look around at us, and I could be sure this is what my reaction looked like to him: One eyebrow cocked at an odd angle, one eye looking like it had frozen mid twitch from concentration, and a mouth hanging open.

Bottom line: My facial expressions = HOT!

Just kidding. -_-

I couldn't wrap my head around all of this.

I mean really! What the hell?

"So what does that have to do with _us_?" I blurted.

"You will be sent on a quest to piece this all together, and find out where the half-bloods are going, _and _what Artemis is after.

Chiron glanced at Mr. D's watch. "Our fifth camper and our counselor should be here any mi-"

Christa burst through the door- Alison lagging behind her slightly, massaging her temples. I smiled. I'm sure Christa had annoyed her by whining to the point where she had a migraine.

Alison settled down next to me, and Christa settled smugly in between Alex and Alison, making sure she had enough time to throw me a smug look that said "Mine!"

I rolled my eyes.

Chiron nodded at me. "Shailene?"

I gulped. "Yeah?"

"The Oracle wishes to confront _you… _I recommend you don't keep it waiting…"

I smirked in my mind. _Yeah, wouldn't want _that _to happen… _

"You will find her in the attic. Best of luck to you." He looked scared for me, and his "best of luck to you" sounded like a ' You're nice and all, and I guess I don't want you to die… Oh, and good luck!'.

I stood up slowly, not totally clear with my directions. I stalled, hoping that some background information would be supplied, but when none came, I quietly walked indoors. The last thing I wanted was to be the stupid newbie who had to ask twice, so I gradually found my way to the attic.

I smelled something foul, and saw that everything was shrouded in a pale green mist. I looked around, and found that the source of the mist was coming from an old, mummified doll.

Her ancient jaw slowly creaked, and it opened. "Approached, seeker, and assesses," it rasped at me. The stench magnified by nearly 10 times that of the original odor.

_Great, _I thought. _This must be the Oracle… I guess they gave her to me on a 'ripe' day…_

I stood there a lump lodged in my throat. Every time, I swallowed, it bobbed it's way back up, rising more and more each time, feeding off of my failed attempts to control it.

"Er, what is my quest?"

_Two best friends shall lead this quest. _

_Do all you can before you rest._

_The Unclaimed daughter shall choose her partner_

_And choose which route she wishes to charter._

_Five of you shall travel to the Kingdom of the Dead._

_None will guess what lies ahead._

_One will leave betrayed, one dead, another lost. _

_Make sure you all remember who'll always be boss…_

Any remaining life (and very little is there, might I add) slowly drained out of the Oracle. I stood there for a moment, feeling awkward. Was something _else _supposed to happen? Did dead dolls _always _come to life?

"Um, is that all?" I asked timidly, unsure of what else to do or say at this point.

The Oracle's droopy, lifeless head flopped onto its shoulder for support.

I guess so…


	13. A Quest Member Is Lost

The Shadow of the Moon

A Daughter of the Moon Trilogy Novel

Book 1

Chapter 13: A Quest Member Is Left Behind

I was back at the Hermes cabin with Meg, packing our clothes. We would be leaving for this quest first thing tomorrow, and had no idea what we'd be doing. Chiron said he'd tell us tomorrow…

He had said so many things, and none of them made any sense!

I finished collecting my things, and took out a swimsuit, and changed in the cabin's bathroom quickly.

Well, it didn't take me very long to get dressed, but it did to kick all of the bickering kids out of there…

Meg and I scampered down the trail through the woods. It was getting dark, and even though we were flanked by tons of other kids coming, I felt uncertain about going back so quickly. What if there were other monsters hanging around? What if a Cyclops was just chillin' on the beach? What if a hellhound decided to dig a grave-size hole in the sand and bury a bone (_maybe human?_). The very thought scared me, the last one repulsed me. I shuddered. Luckily, a chilly breeze rustled the leaves and the long grasses, so I didn't come off scared, just cold…

I took my time along the path, trying to appear fascinated in my own feet, watching them walk…

_Right, left, right, left, right…_

"So, what do you think about this quest?" Meg asked giddily.

I shrugged. "I don't understand what we're supposed to do! I mean everything we've been told sounds like a problem that would arise in the demigod world- this world- but they don't seem to fit each other _at all!"_

Meg considered this. "I guess they don't, but I'm still pretty stoked!"

I resumed looking at my feet, but this time carried a conversation, too. "Maybe it's because we don't have all the information…?" I said not sure if I really suspected that, but was digging for an answer anyway.

_Right, left, right, left_

Meg shrugged. "Maybe." She suddenly dropped the topic. It was like it had slid off her back with that half-hearted shrug or something because she didn't bring it up again.

Not that it mattered- I didn't feel like talking about it either, particularly because we just reached the beach. I sighed happily and spread my towel on the soft sand, and jammed my earbuds in, so I could blast a Lady Gaga song. I felt a warm hand on my shoulder, and felt the urge to smack it away, but I saw Violet's face looming over my own.

"Wanna swim?"

I debated this… If I didn't get attacked by a shark, or perhaps almost EATEN by a half- breed cannibal. A new thought formed in my head where the old one vanished, crawling away like a plume of smoke: _If someone's only _half _human, and they eat humans, are they considered "cannibals"… or _half _cannibals…_

I was looking around for a brain-of-the-operation type-kid to ask my fascinating question (particularly an _Athena kid), _but I was distracted by a meager pain when Violet nearly ripped my arm out of my socket sprinting for the water. I punched her- hard- with my free hand, still have a baggy tee on. She got the message, but dove under an oncoming wave like a porpoise.

I ripped it off cleanly, and threw it haphazardly onto my towel, shoes and canvas tote that held my shoes- a magazine (one for me, one for Meg, and speaking of Meg-), Meg's newly drawn-up "Shit-List" that she insisted was _direly _important _I _hold onto because she didn't bring a bag (I happened to notice a certain daughter of Hera was _very _close to the top, surprise, surprise…) my iPod, and a tiny, tiny makeup bag that held only a few items- my favorite mascara, my EOS lip balm that had SPF 15 in it that I was obsessed with. I loved it mainly for the smell and shape. It was spherical and smelled like Lemon Pez candy, which I always adored. I also kept a clear lip gloss in there, and a rose colored one as well. I was good at doing makeup, and could achieve more-than-simple looks, but I chose to typically keep it natural. I never really wore foundation because I had usually nice skin, but when I got a dreaded zit, or had under eye circles- mine make me look like an insomniac-I would wear some concealer, but that was really about it- and I didn't even wear it on a daily basis.

I padded gently to the shore, and let my toes reach the incoming tide first. The cold water tickled them, and to protect them, I curled them so tightly they dug into the overly saturated sand. And it was overly saturated with the same icy water, so I freed them, and forced my ankles to dip in next. I was starting to shiver and knew I'd feel better once I dove in, so I forced everything but my hips to plunge in at once. I jumped and gave a tiny shriek- so tiny it was barely audible, but made the inside of my mouth vibrate a little. I dunked in the lower half of my chest so that where my ribs cut off just about skimmed the water. I leaned forward to start swimming, and all the cold water I'd been dreading immediately soaked my bikini top and I felt my teeth shiver, but I pushed on until I was eye to eye with Violet, everything but my head submerged now.

"'Bout time," She rolled her eyes and smiled.

"You don't think the water's cold…?" I asked skeptically.

She smirked. "I never said that…"

I tried to float on my back, but a wave was about to crest right in front of me, so I was forced to swim down and against the push of the wave as it undoubtedly broke across the surface that hovered murkily only feet above my head. Finally, the force let up enough for me to make significant progress in the direction I was headed, which was good because I was running out of breath. I couldn't even bare to keep my eyes open because of the abundant salt, and I headed upward as quickly as I possibly could. My head slammed into something hard, but not hard enough to be a rock. I coughed in surprise. I surfaced, choking, and swam to a boulder peeping out of the water, hoisting myself up and tried to cough up the water. My throat burned and my eyes began to water.

"_Bitch!" _

And then, I heard it before I felt it-the unmistakable sound of skin upon skin. Someone had just smacked me on the back. Hard.

I flailed my arm around, and caught Christa on the other end with the back of my hand, and she was _fuming_.

"You did that on purpose!" She screeched.

"Look who's catching on!" I roared, and I dunked her head underwater.

"Not that…!"

"No, I did!"

"No, you rammed your head into me!" She whined.

"Yeah on accident…" I protested stubbornly.

"No, on PURPOSE!" She was now screaming, and everyone was staring. I saw deadly anger in Meg's eyes, and I knew any second I'd have to restrain her, but I didn't want to draw any new attention to her.

"I was choking!"

She got silent, her full, perfect lips forming a delicate _O._

"_YEAH!" _

"Excu-_uuuuse _me…!"

God, I hated that.

"… I didn't know! And _poor baby! Choking? _Why couldn't you watch what you were doing?"

"I couldn't even _see!_ How was I supposed to know you were above me, if I couldn't _see?" _I spat.

"Well it hurt!" She wailed.

"Yeah, because, unlike you, my head contains a brain, not a pudding-like substance!" I felt my anger slowly boiling up inside of me- expecting for things to be like in the cartoons: there would be a distinct line, and everything beneath it would be red, showing my boiling point. I half-expected steam to come out of my ears as though I'd eaten a chili pepper…

I noticed Meg slowly disappear underwater, slipping under the cover of the polluted water.

She was treading eater now, pouting.

"So are you _done now?" _I huffed.

No answer came, but I didn't wait long for one, really. I swam away, trying to find Meg. She was on the shore whispering into her brother's ear.

I retreated to my towel, and with a sigh settled for my iPod- blasting it this time, not caring that I could potentially do some damage to myself.

I closed my eyes and pulled down my slightly over-sized sunglasses.

Maybe five minutes later, I felt a firm grip on my shoulder, with what felt like a large hand.

_Shit! _I could feel myself panicking.

I slowly lowered my shades. I saw Alex looking at me, his brow furrowed.

"Are you okay?"

I nodded grumpily. "Yeah," I grunted.

"Does it sting?" He asked gently.

"Does _what _sting?" I was confused.

"Where she hit you."

I shrugged. "A little, but I'm more mad than hurt."

"She hits hard, don't be afraid to admit it hurts."

It was like he read my mind, but instead of admitting to that, I changed the topic slightly. "Are you speaking from experience?" I asked in a low voice- almost that of a whisper.

He nodded. "She always thinks I'm cheating on her," he rolled his eyes. "But then again, you were there the other night," he smiled softly.

I lowered my eyes, and played with my nails. I understood.

"She's really not a bad person…"

I looked up, an eyebrow cocked to the heavens.

He laughed. "No really! You didn't let me finish. She gets it from her mother- the jealousy. She doesn't _mean _to do it…I don't think," He admitted to the last part.

"So is she gonna kill me now?" I asked sarcastically.

"She may _want to_…"

"Ever hear of being brutally honest? 'Cause you're doing that.."

He smiled. "I don't think she'll touch you. You gave her a good smack," he trailed off there.

I smirked.

"Roll over onto your stomach," he coaxed as he brought a jar I hadn't noticed before into plain sight for the first time.

"_Damn,_" I heard him mutter. The next thing I was aware of was a cold substance on my back. I felt two of his fingers spreading the cold around my back. Whatever it was, was like jelly at the temperature of ice. Despite the cold, I felt the pain from my back receding.

"Is that better?"

I twisted my neck around to see what was on my back, then looked at him. "Mmhmm."

Whatever it was, it was the color of nectar, and-like I sensed- a jelly of some sort.

I hadn't even noticed he was rubbing the medicine on my back until he stopped. When he did, I noticed the pain was gone.

I propped myself up on my elbows. "Thanks.."

I glanced to my right when I heard cheers, and noticed the bonfire had been started. The sun was about down, and a few stars could be seen sprinkled in the sky- hardly visible in the twilight.

I heard the shifting of weight to my right, and noticed Alex was now laying next to me, his eyes closed, his head propped up on his folded arms.

"Are you nervous about the quest tomorrow?"

"A little," I admitted. "Have _you _ever been on a quest before?"

"Nothing like this," he whispered. "A very minor one, but that's it."

"How are we staring off?"

He smiled lazily, one of those little smirks. "Every quest starts out different, Shay…"

"Oh, right…" I said, feeling slightly embarrassed, not noticing until after that he had given me a nickname.

I turned my head to the left again and watched the brilliant orange flames teasing the starry sky. I felt my eyes slide down the length of it, and I felt them settle on Meg. I saw her handing Christa a marshmallow- her face innocent and nonchalant, her eyes dancing with a gleam of revenge. I racked my brain. Something seemed so obvious, but so hard to grasp. Realization struck me and I gasped, struggling in an attempt to jolt upright, despite the fact I was laying on my stomach.

"_No!" _I screamed.

I was finally on all fours, when Alex grabbed my upper arm, accidentally knocking me back down to the ground. "What's wrong?"

But it was too late. The marshmallow had already doubled in size in Christa's mouth, her face turning purple.

How could I have been so _stupid? _I remembered, now, Meg's shady purchase in the pavilion.

It finally began to shrink, followed by her screams.

"_Poor baby," _Meg enunciated Christa's words from before and put on a puppy dog face.

I smacked my forehead with my palm. "_That!" _I said exasperated and plopped back down on my towel, wanting to crawl under a rock. I knew what was coming. I looked up and saw her eyes gleaming madly, piecing through my own. She was just regaining her breath until she sprinted into the woods- returning quickly with a flustered Chiron.

"Christa told me everything. You are _off the quest Megara!" _He thundered.

Meg's jaw dropped, and so did mine, followed by Alex.

**A/N: Mwahhahaah! Review! Add me to alerts! Anything! :-) Please THIS is what's important to me, guys. Your opinions! Thank you to everyone's advice and praise- it will never be forgotten! - Sincerely WiseGurrl17 3**


	14. The Quest Commences

The Shadow of the Moon

A Daughter of the Moon Trilogy Novel

Book 1

Chapter 14: The Quest Commences

"_What?" _All three of us said at the same time, Meg's voice rising well above those of Alex and I. We looked at each other in disbelief- both looking to see if the other could understand this, and daring the other to break their look of confusion.

He cracked a smirk at our identical expressions.

"I win," I muttered softly.

He hit my arm with the back of his hand playfully.

I looked back at Meg. The bonfire to her left was casting an eerie shadow across her face, making her already slim face and high cheek bones look even more prominent. The flames danced wildly, reflecting in her ivy-colored eyes. They toyed with the emotions displayed across her face. They made her look dangerously angry, sad and confused all at the same time.

"Come with me," Chiron ordered, the _clop _of his hooves echoing in the silence.

Meg reluctantly followed, no doubt a stream of curses swimming like a school of fish throughout her mind.

I rolled over onto my back with a sigh. I closed my eyes and listened to the sounds of the waves. They seemed to be crashing almost gently- lapping at the shore softly instead of tendril after tendril of water lashing at the sand full of bodies that were desperate to cool off. Maybe that was me though. I found the water exciting by day, but soothing by night.

I heard Alex's steady breathing to my left. I looked over to him.

"Do you think he means it?" I asked in a low whisper- careful not to be heard.

Alex sighed. "Yup. He means it, alright. Nice as can be, but Chiron has a temper like no other. He doesn't get mad a lot, but when he does…" He paused to whistle for effect, emphasizing the intensity of what happened when his temper escaped him.

It made me think of a poem from when I was little:

_There was a little girl,_

_Who had a little curl_

_Right in the middle of her forehead._

_When she was good,_

_She was very, very good,_

_But when she was bad, _

_She was _horrid!

Obviously, Chiron wasn't a bipolar little girl, but it represented his anger in a way- He doesn't get provoked easily, but when he finally does, all Hades breaks loose.

"So there's no hope then…?" I sighed.

"Unless something comes up and he finds it to be proof Meg didn't do it. I mean, I know she's your friend and all- and don't get me wrong, she's I have nothing against Meg. She's cool- but we both saw her do it." He said in a terse voice.

"Yeah, I know. Christa kind of had it coming, though…" I could feel a bit of anger bubbling up in me, but I squashed it quickly.

He rolled over onto his side, propping his head up on his hand. "How do you figure that?" He said, a tone of defensiveness rising in his still- even voice.

"I-I'm not saying it's her fault," I stuttered quickly, "but Meg's probably one of my best friends here, so she got mad because of what Christa did earlier," I made gestures to my back and the jar that was next to him.

He raised an eyebrow.

"She was wrong, yeah. Definitely. I won't deny that." I basically said the same thing three times to ensure him I wasn't really accusing her. "But I'm saying I think it got Meg mad…"

"Mad or not, you realize she could've died, right?" He said loyally.

"Yes, I do. And I'm still not happy Meg did that, but there's nothing to do now, is there?" I threw in the last part even though I knew the answer.

He looked down, fiddling with his thumbs, gazing out at the water.

"Whatever." I sighed. I laid back down, trying to get in some chill time.

"Shailene!" Came a stern voice.

_What _now?

Chiron stood towering where the path from the woods was, a look on his face just as strict-looking as his voice had sounded.

I jerked upright at the sight of him. He turned to leave and waved a hand over his right shoulder with his right hand.

I sighed, and got to my feet, brushing some sand from the back of my thighs, before reluctantly following. A few feet behind me, I heard "Good luck."

If this was anything like I thought it was, I would need it.

**(**

"_What _is this all about, girls?" He asked, hardly calm.

I opened my mouth to speak.. "Liar!" wailed Christa.

I shot her a look I, myself, knew was nasty.

Chiron sighed. "Christa!" he scolded. "Continue," he said softly, but without losing the edge to his voice.

I began my story.

"And then, I hit her back!" I finished, realizing I was right through telling the story a second time. "And then the thing happened with Meg and the marshmallow!" I finished furiously.

Chiron looked at Meg, emotions clearly fighting to see which would gain control of his face. Disappointment beat out anger easily. "That was incredibly dangerous, Meg. I know you, and I know you thought you stuck up for your friend, but she did it herself…"

"But she didn't _defend _herself! _I _defended myself! She ATTACKED me!"

I forced my facial muscles to unwillingly form a look of hurt confusion to really try and persuade him I was telling the truth. Screaming at her wouldn't work.

"I swear! It was an _accident!" _

"Alright, ENOUGH!" He bellowed. "Christa, it's your word against hers. There's no proof that she tried to hurt you, just what you think." He turned to me. "You're good to go, _for now_. If any proof, _any at all_, should surface proving that you had negative intentions- and Christa, getting one of your friends to account for you won't work- than you shall be punished accordingly.

"I am no mediator girls. I will always be here to _help _you, but you will not tattle on each other over petty things! Figure out your own problems. Come to me if it's something that _really _stumps you. Okay?"

We nodded.

"As for you, Meg. I'm afraid to say my word remains final. You cannot venture on a quest- _particularly _one Christa is on. I'm sorry." He said gently. He got up and left the room, leaving the three of us alone.

"You're dead," Christa said in a voice that was supposed to be threatening, but it didn't scare me, not after what Alex told me:

"_I don't think she'll touch you. You gave her a good smack," _

I sighed and got up, Meg right behind me.

We walked in an awkward silence back to the beach. When we were about halfway down the trail, we saw multi-colored lights at the mouth of the trail ahead. We started to run, and saw fireworks being shot off from the beach. Bottle rockets. I went back to my towel, Meg beside me, both of us still silent, and laid down to watch the colorful sparks fly overhead.

One, in particular, was extremely large. Wait a minute…_and low…_

!

I jumped up, and grabbed my stuff before the spark landed. Alex and Meg were both standing next to me, as well. A huge chunk of firework had gone haywire. It would have landed right on my left shoulder, maybe even near Alex's arm. It started to burn the sand, and I ran and grabbed the now-empty cooler that had contained sodas, lemonade, water, iced tea- anything really, and dumped it over the sizzling sand.

A low hissing sound wafted up from where the fire and ice met, and now there was just thick, hot steam. I jumped back. I felt like I was in a sauna. It had blasted right up into my face. I stood for a minute, catching my breath. I threw the cooler down.

I tried again for some peace, and laid my towel out again. I laid there and watched the fireworks, with one ear bud in, and a bottle of root beer in my right, which was provided by the _other _cooler. A particularly pretty firework erupted into sparks of turquoise and bubblegum pink.

We oohed and ahhed particularly loud as a whole camp just to hear the echo along the beach. Meg and I tested out saying them in different accents, to see if a different sound was more than just a little detectable.

"Try saying 'Good eye might' without sounding Australian!" I dared her.

"Good. Eye. Might."

"No enunciating."

"Goodeyemight. Dammit!"

I laughed.

The grand finale, was a firework of every color of the rainbow being shot sequential to the order they appeared in the rainbow.

_Red, orange, yellow, green, blue, indigo, purple, pink, red, orange, yellow, green, blue, indigo, purple, pink…_

After all the colors exploded at once, we headed back.

I started to pack up my stuff, which was strewn across the area I had been in, and slung my bag over my right shoulder.

I received one of those pointy stick-thingys, and started cleaning up any loose garbage. I did so for a few minutes until Violet took mine from me, in addition to her own.

"You've gotta get up at the crack of dawn for your quest. You'll need your sleep," and resumed collecting debris.

I started to protest, but I realized I was tired, and didn't argue. Instead, I said: "I owe you one." She laughed. "Mmm 'kay." And ignored me again.

I sleepily started drifting toward the path. I was doing everything subconsciously now. I didn't even think of looking for Meg or anyone to talk to.

I headed to cabin 11, and debated taking a shower, but nearly passed out at the idea of waiting on that long line ad how tired I'd be, so I decided to go down to the lake (which was always clear and clean because the naiads lived there, and wash my face and hands. I would shower in the morning and get up extra early and shower. Make the most of it and leave clean, not bedraggled. If this was like extreme camping and we weren't staying anywhere, that'd mean no showers…

I shuddered. I pushed through the door, a handful of kids were returning from the beach. I knelt down at the water's edge and scooped up a handful of clear water. I could see what some may say was a reflection, but because of the lighting, it looked more like my shadow- no distinguishable features, no eyes, mouth, nose, nothing. Just the outline of my head. I slathered it over my face, letting the water drip down my clammy neck. It had gotten humid fast!

I had thrown on an oversized tee to cover my top, and used the hem to wipe it in places where the water was pooled up and there was too much excess. I sat down, and let my toes dip in a bit. The water felt cool, and silky against my sandy feet. I saw a light reflecting in the lake's surface that looked out of place. The Artemis cabin was aglow, as usual, but there were lights on insides, and dark silhouettes moving around inside. That was odd…Artemis was a virgin… She didn't _have _kids. Maybe a bunch of people were continuing the party there because it was empty, so they could drink and stuff and not get caught?

I heard the sound of quickly moving hooves, then my name. Chiron was by my side in no time.

"Get Meg and meet me in the Big House." Then he turned and left. I scampered up the small hill, then down the other side. I burst through the cabin 11 door, and forced my way through the shower line. "Meg! Chiron wants us!" She had one person ahead of her before it was her turn, and looked like she was debating whether she should stay in line and ignore our camp director (even though she was already in deep) or go. She shoved her towel into another undetermined hand, I think her name was Alyssa (..?) and followed me.

We reached the Big House and went into the parlor. Chiron was sitting in front of the unlit fireplace, and said. "Meg, you're off the hook. Alison confessed to tricking you into taking those marshmallows. Alison stood up from the armchair next to Chiron's and widened her eyes as a hint, knowing he was still looking at us.

Meg was speechless. She was obviously not expecting this.

Neither was I, really.

"Evan admitted to giving them to you, as well."

_That must have been the Dionysus kid she bought that nasty stuff from…, _I thought to myself.

"But enough about that," Chiron's voice pierced through my little self-recognition moment there. "Official quest business."

Meg perked up in response to hearing those words. She was back in the saddle.

He pointed to us. "You two, are going to pretend to sign up for Artemis' exclusive group, the Hunters. You will try and find out as much information as you possibly can. You will go ask the lieutenant, Thalia, if you can meet with Lady Artemis- who is currently in California hunting… We invited the Hunters to stay here until tomorrow. They, too will depart, but you will leave as two different groups, the Hunters, and the quest members," he clarified.

"Wait a minute-isn't this a lifetime thing?" Meg asked.

"Yes, it is." Chiron insisted.

"And don't we have to pledge ourselves to be, um, anti-guy?"

I knew what Meg wanted to say: _Virgins. _

"She doesn't even like the idea of love." Chiron stated.

I thought about Alex. No, I didn't _love _him, but I definitely liked him. This meant I had to give up before I wanted to.

"Why us?" Meg asked.

"We need to find out what is occurring out west so we can prepare our demigod battlers. You will be given more information in the morning. Now go." He gestured to the door, and Meg and I timidly turned to leave.

We made our way down the great, sloping lawn in total silence. Both of us breathless. A lot had just happened. We were each so lost in our own thoughts, we were both surprised to find that we'd reached cabin 8's door. I forced myself up the stairs, and then for my knuckles to make contact with the door. I heard the knob turn, and saw a grim looking girl answer it, the giggles and voices inside hushed automatically.

"Well?"

I opened my mouth to speak but found no words coming out.

I froze completely.


	15. I Think I Wallow In My Own Self Pity

The Shadow of the Moon

A Daughter of the Moon Trilogy Novel

Book 1

Chapter 15: I Think I Wallow In My Own Self Pity

I heard the knob turn, and saw a grim looking girl answer it, the giggles and voices inside hushed automatically.

"Well?"

I opened my mouth to speak but found no words coming out.

I froze completely.

I felt something bony hit me- _hard._

It ended up being Meg's elbow.

The girl raised a pierce eyebrow. She had shaggy hair, that looked perfectly messy, but not dirty. He bright blue irises looked like they generated electricity. Her thick, black eyeliner accentuated her already prominent eyes, and she had a few piercing- three on each ear, the first one- the one most girls have: right in the center of the lobe- contained small-ish hoops, the next one up had pretty small hoops- smaller than the first anyway, and the third piercing that was the closest to the top of her ear held tiny diamond studs.

She was wearing a silvery tunic with gladiator sandals, and had a midnight blue cloak draped over her arm.

"I, uh, _we," _I corrected myself. "Are interested in joining the Hunt…"

"…Well you'll have to take that up with Lady Artemis…" the girl standing in front of me said in a slightly raspy voice.

I nodded, "I figured that," I said with a small smile.

A smile that went unreturned…. _Jeez, tough crowd! _

"Right well can you figure the way back to your cabin? Because Lady Artemis is in, er, never mind! I've said enough already!" She added in her last sentence hastily. "Um, well. Good night." And she closed the door on me.

I stood there in shock. I just hoped she was always that friendly.

I refused to turn around and walk away like a dog with their tail between their legs.

I knocked again, with a bit more force this time.

She opened the door. "Yes?" She was obviously trying to sound patient, but there was an edge of annoyance that didn't dare to hide itself.

"What's your name?" I demanded.

She raised an eyebrow. "Does it matter?"

"Uh, yeah. Please tell me your name."

"Thalia. Should I be knowing yours?"

"Does it matter?" I raised my eyebrow as well, mimicking her look from before.

An offended look crossed her face.

"Shailene. Do I need to do anything special to set up a meeting with Artemis…?"

"_Lady!"_

"Alright, alright. _Lady _Artemis- there, happy?"

She still didn't look happy at all. In fact, she looked confused. "What did you say your name was?"

"Shailene."

That now familiar skeptical look crossed her face.

She leaned to one side, her left shoulder resting on the door frame to her left.

"And _how old are you?" _She barked.

"Almost fourteen."

"She looked me up and down, pressing her tongue into the side of her cheek- bulging like that of a greedy gerbil or chipmunk who had bitten off more than it could chew for the winter.

"So is that all?"

"I… guess so?"

"I'll be in contact." And she shut the door for a second time

"Whatever." I grumbled to the impassive wooden door.

I stomped down the stairs, careful to make extra noise at their girlish chatter. Weren't you guys supposed to by tomboys or something?

I stormed into cabin 11. I wrestled my way into the bathroom to change into a pair of pink boxers with thin blue, gold and purple stripes. I threw on a white tank top, and threw my unruly hair into a messy bun. I didn't care it would be a rats nest in the morning, I'd be in the shower then anyway.

I slumped into my sleeping bag, the cabin alive and wriggling with energy- they were proud to know Meg had escaped her Christa's conviction of her. My mind switch gears to Alison. Why had she done that?

Cabin 11 was clearly proud to have someone representing in the camp's freshest quest, I was soon consumed by sleep despite the gossip and mini-celebration.

**(**

"_Shailene?"_

_I couldn't recognize where I was- I was in a clearing somewhere, I thought. _

"_Baby, can you hear me?"_

"_Wh-who's there?" I looked for anything nearby to defend myself with. A large branch, a sharp stone, _anything!

"_It's me- Mom."_

"_Mom?"_

"_Yes."_

"_Well, who _are _you? Tell me!"_

"_You should know by now, I can't do that."_

"_Why not?"_

"_It simply isn't time. Be patient- for once. I know you have a strong desire to know, but trust me- for now I think it's best you _don't."

"_Mom, I'm scared. Someone on my quest is going to die! What if that's me? What if I can't lead? What if I fail everyone? Or worse- what if _I'm_ the reason the other quest member dies?_

"_You'll be fine, just…Don't do anything stupid."_

_I smirked. "Trust me, Mom. I'll try."_

"_I'll do my best to protect you, but I can make no promises. I'm growing weak."_

"_Are you okay?" If the Olympians were in trouble, surely a few puny demigods didn't stand a chance…_

_My mom gave a hearty laugh- something that surprised me due to her soft, soothing voice._

"_I'll be just fine. You worry about yourself, Shailene."_

_I sighed._

"_And do try to get along with Thalia- she'll warm up." _

"_How di-d'ju know?"_

"_Do you really think I left you? I'm always with you."_

_I felt a surge of affection towards the mother I'd never met._

"_I have to go-they're gaining on me…I'll talk to you soon."_

"_But-Mom! Don't go!" _

"_Go to sleep. You'll need it. I love you. Good luck!"_

"_Wait…" I heard a frighteningly strong echo of my own voice. It sounded puny, and weak. _

_I heard a booming laugh that chilled me to the bone. It sounded like a voice effect from a movie or something. _

_I continued to search for a weapon._

"_Stay away form me!" I shrieked, I crawled up against an oak tree, and I felt something clammy wrench my head against the trunk. Whatever it was, was clamped tightly around my mouth._

_I raised my right arm to hit behind the tree, hoping to strike in a facial area, but an invisible and equally clammy force grabbed that, too. _

_I writhed and struggled until I heard something that made my blood curdle- A high pitched female scream._

_I heaved a sob. _

_And then another. I began to bawl. I couldn't even breathe. I tried to stop, but my lungs wouldn't allow it. I felt something cold pool around my ankles. It smelled salty. I was drowning in my own tears. _

_Finally I ran out of oxygen and passed out. _

_And that's how it ended._


	16. Empire State of Mind

The Shadow of the Moon

A Daughter of the Moon Trilogy Novel

Book 1

Chapter 16: Empire State of Mind

I flung myself upward, drenched in a cold sweat. So _that's _what I thought I was drowning in… I saw slivers of the weak pink rays of the early sun, streaming into the cabin. My shirt felt like it was skin-tight, slowly compressing my chest. I grabbed a blanket from nearby and covered myself with it, white I took of the top. My shorts were even soaked from where they had been pressed under my perspiring thighs while I slept. They had started to ride up. I hobbled across the bodies that lay unconscious beneath my wary feet. I felt myself step on something, followed by the low soft groaning of an "ow," I turned around, and saw a pretty brunette with a serious case of bed-head- her hair more straggly and all over the place than the freckles peppered across her petite and perfect nose. She rolled over and started snoring again.

I tip-toed on from this point, and made it to the shower. I laid down the clothes I'd grabbed and jumped right in. I let the water run icy cold for about ten seconds before returning it to a medium temperature.

I pulled on a pair of frayed shorts, and a pretty white tank top. It had a stripe of white lace, and then a stripe of see through material. This continued down the loose top, all the way to the handkerchief hem. It was longer on the sides than the front and back. I put on a plain white camisole under this, and threw on my well-adored plain black Converses.

Suddenly the door burst open, and I shrieked, seeing a rather frightening looking Meg. Her hair was standing up in every other direction, her heavy lids drooping from her desire- no doubt- to crawl back up into a bawl on her comfy bunk and sleep. She pushed me out of the way gently enough so that I wasn't hurt, but moved because I had not been prepared. Without a word- her facial expression not changing in the slightest: her mouth slightly open and one eye more so than the other- threw my stuff at me, and began to push me out of the door. She was about to slam the door, when she said "Getyourcrapouht." In a drowsy voice. She turned to go back to the counter where my stuff had been before she threw it at me. She stood there for a minute, perplexed. She looked back at me, at the untidy bundle I held in my arms, and back at the vacant spot on the countertop.

I made a desperate attempt not to laugh. She had forgotten she'd already given me my stuff.

"Screwyou" Which was followed by a door slammed in my face.

I walked down to the lake, with some soap and washed all the clothes possible. I put the clothes on a clothes line that was on a loom-like set-up. The naiads were working on the laundry. I strategically avoided Morgan's eyes, and stayed near the lake to make sure my clothes didn't "fall off" and land in the water again.

"Hey." I looked over.

Violet apparently had the same thought as me. Her neon clothes were strung across the clothing line, but hers were nearly dry. I secretly eyed some stuff I would've loved to borrow. "What are you doing here?"

"Trying to wash some of my clothes and keep them clean for the quest. I don't know how long it'll be before I get to water to clean them."

"I'll be right back."

Violet got up and ran back to her cabin.

I sat in silence for a bit, but I got bored. I waded into the water until I was about knee deep. A brilliantly colored koi fish swam by an tickled my feet with its feathery tail. It was yellow, but had lime green splotches and iridescent irises that seemed to change color as it moved.

I'd never seen a fish like that before. A white one with scarlet splotches also swam by, but darted away just as quickly as it had come. I named the neon one Sprite on the fly, because it was the color of lemons and limes. I knew I wouldn't be able to recognize it, but I gave it a name sub-consciously anyway. Sprite stared at me, and its gills _glubbed _a bit before it too, swam away. I lumbered out and sat on the clean grass again. I sat idly, staring at the sunrise tinted clouds sweeping across the nectarine colored sky. A little more than a sliver of blue was peeking out timidly and merged effortlessly into a yellow that could've passed for liquid gold.

"Here you go." Violet had three boxes distributed through her two hands. They could hold a cell phone, and nothing larger.

I raised an eyebrow. "What are those?"

"You know my cabin's kind of… known for smuggling in magic objects…"

"…Yeah?"

"Let me finish," she laughed. "This is dry-use soap. You rub all over your clothes and it cleans them instantly. You don't even need water. Here. Look." She plucked a shirt that was cut off of both shoulders. It was a pretty sky blue color with slits down the sides. She thrust it into my hands, pausing to say "it's completely dry," before snatching it back. She took the corner of the translucent golden bar and slid it along the cotton fabric. A streak of color that was a bit darker than the shade of the fabric appeared trailing behind the lingering bar. "Feel it." She invited.

I reached out to touch the fabric, and drew back sort of surprised. It was wet.

"H-how did that…?"

"Don't question it. She shoved the shirt into my hands. It looks cool with your hair and eyes. Take it for a bit. Just so you know, the soaps are scented." She held up the one in her hand. "This one's honeysuckle," she said as she popped it back into the box. "This one's fresh linen, and this one's fresh strawberries. Do you want more?"

"Nah, I'm good." I glanced at the boxes. The fresh linen was a translucent light turquoise, the strawberry was a translucent reddish-pink. "Thanks." I smiled. I flipped the box over.

"_One bar can wash up to 15 garments!" _It claimed.

"No problem. So… are you nervous?"

"Kind of. I wonder how the heck Meg got back on, though," I glanced down at the shirt grasped in my hand. The streak of wet fabric had expanded a bit.

Violet crossed her arms and jutted her out narrow hip. "You didn't hear, did you?"

I looked up, afraid of what I might hear. "Uh… No, I didn't…Why? What happened?"

"Alison took the rap. Drew told me. She owed him a favor prior to this, so he made her say she did it."

"Why did he pick her?"

"'Cause he likes Meg and felt bad for her." She shrugged it off.

"I think I should talk to her," I clambered to my feet.

"No use, she rode off on a pegasus." She walked away.

I stayed behind on the bank feeling as confused as ever.

I grabbed a small mesh bag and held it in my hands. I could keep my dirty clothes in this so they were separated from the clean clothes in my backpack during the quest. The naiads had tons of them. They usually did the campers' laundry.

I walked over to the line my stuff was on. I fingered the soft cotton or one of my tee shirts. Nope. Still wet.

A naiad walked over and blew softly across my clothes. They rippled as if caught in multiple summer breezes at once, and I looked at her quizzically. She smiled at me kindly, then walked over to Violet's clothes and placed them in another mesh bag. I felt my clothes. Warm and soft like they'd just come out of the dryer. I folded them quickly and put them in another bag. I took a few bags from the laundry cart.

She put a hand on my wrist.

"I got it," I insisted. I made my way toward the hub of the "u" that the cabins made. I threw a sack on the porch of the Demeter cabin, and made my way to the Ares cabin. I looked through the mesh holes.

So much _camo_… and leather.

I tossed it onto the porch.

"_Hey! _Watch my crap!" A deep voice bellowed.

I didn't turn around to see how big or scary that kid was. I threw a sack at the Athena cabin's doorstep, and set Violet's down on her deck. A conch sounded, and I headed over to the Pavilion for breakfast. I didn't realize how hungry I was until my stomach gave a speech.

Chiron was in the center, a message obviously on the brink of being given. I settled down next to Meg- predictably- and waited.

"Will the quest member please gather your belongings and meet Argus at the base of Half-Blood Hill when you have finished your breakfast? Thank you." And he walked over to me, and tossed me a royal blue- almost purple- velvet pouch. He galloped down the house and toward the Big House before I could respond. I glanced at the tag.

"_Good Luck!" - M_om

I undid the shimmery ribbon and looked inside.

"HOLY $#!+…!" Came from next to me and I wasn't even going to pretend I didn't know why.

Mother dearest had just given me a $#!+load of gold coins. Drachmas, they were called apparently. They filled the pouch and were so heavy I had to hold my other hand underneath it in case I dropped it.

"Gods," Meg murmured.

"Now I know what we'll do for money on the quest."

I made my breakfast last- a Belgian waffle with some bacon and a swish of milk.

I grabbed on my way out, I grabbed three bottles of water and a bagel, and stuffed a sausage patty and cheese into it. I stored it in a Ziploc bag and ran to my cabin to stash it for later. I plopped the laundry bag, the soaps, and the food into my backpack and zipped it all shut. I grabbed the few packs of Colgate wisps, and stuffed them in as well. They were the little on the go toothbrush thingies. Lastly, I dug through everything and out my bag of drachmas inside a bundle of clothes- hidden from sight.

I made sure I hadn't left behind. Thinking quickly, I checked under Meg's pillowcase. Nothing. I checked the little drawer beneath her bunk, no. I climbed up onto it and looked into the crack between the edge of the mattress and the wall. _There _it was. Meg's book that contained all that information about monsters. I stuffed that in as well. For all I knew, it could come in handy.

I dashed out of the cabin, and down the hill to find everyone there, but Argus, whoever _that _was…

I hauled my fully packed backpack onto my shoulder and felt the dagger I'd taken on my way shift mischievously in my bag. It was easily the heaviest thing in there, except perhaps the book and coins…

A limo pulled up.

I turned to Meg to raise an eyebrow. "That's Argus. Try not to be frightened."

A man with a million eyes all over his body emerged, and I heard hooves behind us. Chiron bid us quick individual good byes, and stopped to say: "Shailene and Meg will be going undercover once they reach California to penetrate the Hunter's code of secrecy. You three will remain alone and keep a steady camp by yourselves," he gestured to Alex, Christa and Ryan. You two will have to communicate through IM'ing. I will keep in touch the same way. You all have a minimal amount of money. Shailene, you have your gift. Farewell. Argus will leave you at Penn Station from where you will take a train to Secaucus in New Jersey. I will feed you information as you go. I wish you all the best of luck."

We all clambered into the limo. Meg and I snagged the sideways seat. Meg to my left, Ryan to my right. Christa and Alex claimed the seat that faced forward. We raided the mini fridge and I grabbed a root beer which was housed by an old fashioned bottle. I snapped the cap open and started gulping the fizzy drink. I jerked forward, suddenly, landing on the floor next to Meg, with Ryan sprawled on top of us. Alex had somehow stopped himself and put his arm out to block Christa. I tried to army crawl out, but we were all too intertwined.

I felt a heavy load lift from the small of my back which was already extremely arched, and before I could react was being lifted to my feet. "Sorry," Ryan grunted. He had already scooped me up and was setting me down again.

"It's fine," I wobbled as my feet touched down again. Meg was resisting him, as she stood up rather shakily, and I suddenly realized. _We were standing…_ Well, we had to crouch a bit, but we were. And that's when I put my finger on it. The car wasn't moving. We had stopped on the side of a busy highway. I swiveled around, looking for a reason, but none came. Someone tapped on the window next to Christa, who shrieked in surprise. I felt Meg jump a little next to me, and I turned my head so fast, I thought I cracked my neck.

Argus had tapped on the window, and motioned for Christa to roll it down. "I have to go check under the hood. I'll be back in a minute."

We all poured out of the limo and watched- in shock- as thick black smoke curled from where it had been trapped in the car. Immediately, we ran back to the car, desperate for the shield of clean oxygen. We all climbed on top of one another to get in. Meg wriggled in first, followed by Ryan, then me, then Christa, then Alex, who shut the door behind him as quickly as he possibly could to keep the smoke from infiltrating the clean air inside the limo. We sat there, some panting, some wiping their brow. We sat their I silence for a few minutes before Argus informed us everything was ok and we'd be at Penn Station in maybe a half an hour or so. I moved over to the little bench that faced the trunk of the car and stretched out. I don't remember what happened next because I fell asleep for a bit.

**(**

I awoke when a scream rang out through my distant mind. I wasn't sweating like last night, but I felt my forehead, and it felt clammy. I looked around. Meg and Ryan, who were sharing the sideways seat, and sat back to back, leaning on each other, both fast asleep. Christa was leaning on Alex's shoulder and was half-asleep.

I sat for a bit, not sure not to make of this. I pulled my knees into my chest, wondering if I pulled them tight enough that my body would consume them, and then consume all of me. I hadn't really thought through quite how awkward this was really going to be. Christa's bitchy glare didn't fail to reach me, even through her droopy eyelids.

"You ok?" His soft voice barely reached me.

"Yeah, why?"

"You seem like you just snapped out of something that disturbed you."

"Like how?"

"Well, when you woke up, you looked…relieved in a sense."

"I'm fine."

He raised an eyebrow.

I sighed. I gave in and told him about my dream last night. He leaned back into the leather seat. "Hmm…That's weird."

"Any idea what that could've meant?" I asked desperately.

He snorted. "No."

I rolled my eyes. "Gee, thanks."

He laughed. "_You _had the dream. If you don't have any idea, how could I?"

I realized this was a valid point. So naturally.. "Shattup." I muttered. I saw him roll his eyes and smile, too.

I realized we were going into a tunnel and would emerge in the city. I found a pack of gum in a drawer of the limo and tossed a piece to Alex. I folded the strip into my mouth and started chomping on it straight away. Once I felt the "crumbs" (if you will) dissolve I started chewing in a more relaxed manner.

Ryan woke up next.

"You want some gum to keep your ears from popping?" He shrugged. "Sure. Thanks." He accepted the gum from me.

I gave him a small smile. Christa stumbled out of that drowsy stage and was now wide awake. I tossed the pack of gum onto her lap without another word. I held onto Meg's slight shoulder and tried to jerk her awake. When that didn't prevail, I rolled her over onto the floor of the car.

She was clearly startled, and looked a little disheveled, but not disheveled enough to refrain from taking a very wide swing at me.

We emerged into the city- as expected, but all of a sudden, Argus told us to "hold on". We were being compressed as the limo squeezed in-between all of the cars in the blocked up street. I slammed into Meg, who tumbled from the impact. Finally he pulled out of the crack and we weren't squished anymore.

Suddenly it happened again, and people were being thrown everywhere. Ryan landed on top of Christa, Alex on me, and Meg on Christa, and Ryan on Alex and so forth.

It didn't stop until Argus made a very obvious, and very illegal U-turn.

I gaped at Meg. "How does no one notice this."

"The Mist. Most mortals can't see through it. It changes what we see and makes it more believable for the typical person. They don't see monsters- they see an animal, or a person going crazy- anything. I don't really know. Very few mortals can see through it, though."

We stepped out onto the busy sidewalk, and brought all of our belongings with us. Argus handed us our tickets. "Your train leaves in 15 minutes. Get a move on!" He smacked Ryan hard on the back in what was probably supposed to be a pat on the shoulder, and sent us off. We hurriedly descended down the stairs that were at street level, and stood looking around at the huge station. I could tell by the faces of Alex and Meg they'd never really been in a city like this.

We hurried along to our gate, a few miniscule outcasts against the great, big, oblivious world of New York.


	17. I Have A Desperate Housewives Moment

The Shadow of the Moon

A Daughter of the Moon Trilogy Novel

Book 1

Chapter 17: I Have A Desperate Housewives Moment

Between Ryan and I, we quickly found our track and set off. The train ride was extremely short and in no time at all we were in New Jersey. From there we set off on a number of trains. One from New Jersey to Maryland, Maryland to the southwestern corner of Virginia and then from Virginia to Tennessee. The train that lead to Tennessee was succeeded by a train from Tennessee to Kansas City. We'd been at this for a while now, and boredom was slowly gnawing away at all of us.

We switch on very train ride. One person each time was allowed to sleep- the other four were to remain alert. Meg had dark circles under her eyes. Her train given was the one from New York to New Jersey- fifteen minutes. Naturally, Christa volunteered Meg for that one.

I was supposed to be asleep on this ride, but I let Meg take it. We were due in Kansas City any minute now. The sky was reach that stage where the horizon was yellow, above you was a faded sky blue, and to your whatever (in this case, behind us, was growing darker. We were racing the darkness- desperate not to let it catch up with us.

Meg was leaning on me- snoring, more like purring, softly. I felt a cold hand on my arm, and looked to my left. Ryan stared back. H lowered his voice so he wouldn't wake up Meg. "If you want, you could take a quick nap- I'll wake you up if anything goes wrong."

I smiled a little. "That's fine. We should be in Kansas City in… twenty minutes? Maybe less…? Trust me, I can wait until we get to a hotel." I found a selfish part of my brain fighting my words. I would do anything for some shut-eye…

"You sure about that? You don't look that good. Besides, what can happen in twenty minutes?"

"A lot," I protested.

"Alright."

I suddenly felt bad for him. I realized for the first time how alone he must really be. I mean, Meg and I were like glue, and Alex and Christa spent all their time together. I felt bad and tried to talk to him. "So…are you still undetermined?"

"Nah. You?"

"Um, yeah. I haven't been claimed."

"Oh."

"So, who claimed you?"

"Apollo."

"Oh, so you and Alex are brothers, then?"

"Well, half-brothers," he corrected me. "But yeah, brothers."

And the point of that… _was? _

"Yeah."

The train slowed to a stop. A digital bell rang overhead. "Kansas City." The cold autonomous voice announced. I shook Meg awake. "HADES HEL-!" I slapped my hand over her mouth, widening my eyes, cueing her to shut up. She widened her eyes too, realizing what she had just done. Screaming Greek curses- especially Greek curses that were referred to what mortals considered "mythology."

Every passenger on the car was staring at us. "She was having a dream, right?" he turned to me. "Yeah," I lied. "She hasn't slept in days. Goin' crazy." Mostly everyone looked away, even though they still looked confused. A few pairs of eyes still lingered on Meg. We grabbed our things, and raced toward the doors. We made it out, just in time, Ryan had slung Meg over his shoulder because she was still half unconscious. We wandered down the stairs and were now standing on the sidewalk in front of a very busy road. A man wearing a black trench coat walked over to us. I saw Alex begin to scratch his neck "casually", but I saw his hand slide down the side of his neck and grab a hold of his jingling dog tags.

"I'm a'ight. Chiron sent me. He told me one of you has truck load of drachmas." We all exchanged glances. How did this guy know Chiron, and how did he know what drachmas were?"

"I can see through the Mist, a'ight?" He held his hands up in mock surrender. "I came for a cash exchange. You can't use those in the mortal world." He pointed to my backpack. Everyone was staring at me.

"My mom gave me a gift for the quest. Show me your money, first."

He took a wad of cash out of his pocket. "$5,000.00" He announced. Alex snatched off his dog tags and held the point of his sword to his neck. He grabbed the money from his hands and swiftly deposited it to Meg, who was laying on the sidewalk half awake. Even in that state, Meg grabbed Alex's sword, which was glowing gold and placed it under the money. She shoved it back into his hand. "He's clean. It's real."

I raised an eyebrow. "How many drachmas for that?"

"Ten."

I counted out the gold pieces and slapped them into his hand.

He shoved them into his pocket.

"Is that all the money you have?" I asked.

"Yeah, but here's the deal. Chiron sent me these," he flashed a handful of tickets. "Plane tickets to Las Vegas. The information is on the ticket."

A car horn honked. "I gotta go. G'luck!" And he ran off.

We stood there with a ton of money in our hands, and no idea where to go. We set off and took a few turns before finding a hotel. I was so drowsy, I didn't even look at the name. I walked inside.

"Welcome to the Maraschino!"

"The Maraschino?" Meg asked, sounding like she'd just heard the dumbest thing in her life.

"Yes. We're little and sweet…"

"Just like the cherry?" Ryan teased.

"Yes!"

Ryan's smirk fell right off his face.

"Yeah, yeah. How much is a conjoined room?" I asked groggily.

"For the night?"

"No for the _fortnight,_" Meg snarled.

I elbowed her. "Yes, the night."

"$230."

I didn't have time to reason in my head if this sounded about right or not, so I grabbed the keys, and headed off.

We hopped into the elevator, and rode it up to the 7th floor. We were room 737.

We reached the area, and I gave the guys a key to 736, and headed in. I locked myself in the bathroom and took a nice long shower. Christa sauntered in after me. I walked outside. Meg had passed out on one of three beds. I claimed the one next to her, and closest to the double door balcony. The room was painted tan, with thin red striped and had white paneling from the halfway point on the wall down. The comforters were tan with red flowers, and the pillow cases were white except for a thick strip near the opening that was tan with red stripes. They had lots of tassely pillows for decoration. I took off a few, but left the majority of them on because they were nice and cushy. I leaned back onto them and listened to the comforting sound of running water that came from the shower and quickly fell asleep.

**(**

I fell captive to a dream. I opened my eyes and found myself struggling against the very same tree in the very same clearing that I had been numerous times, now. Except this time, when the cold laugh reached my ears, the ground started shaking. I dug and clawed at the soft earth, trying to brace myself for an impact I could swear was coming, rallying dirt under my fingernails.

I heard a woman scream before I woke again.

I sat up in bed, and noticed for the first time that the bathroom light was on, and the door wide open. I heard voice soft and low, and then…nothing.

I padded softly into the bathroom and heard heavy breathing. I saw the reflection in the mirror across from the door. I saw the back of a guy's head and a girl with auburn hair. She was sitting on the sink with her legs wrapped around him and their bodies pressed close. I assumed it was Alex, but when I leaned back against the wall outside, my peripheral vision deciphered that this guy's hair was too short to be Alex's.

I noticed it was…

Ryan! And Christa was making out with him!

I started to walk back to bed, and heard Christa say "Shh! Did you hear that?"

I scrambled into bed, and laid facing the bathroom so I could watch ever so carefully. I had a way of watching things with my "eyes closed." They weren't _really_ closed (uh duuuuuuhhhh) but I kept them open so that my long eyelashes laced together making it look like they were closed.

Christa stepped out, before turning back to Ryan. "I don't think anyone heard us."

" Me either. They're sleeping, Chris, we're fine."

He pulled her close and they started kissing right in front of us. Christa grabbed him, and they made their way over to the bed that was next to Meg, the closest to the bathroom. They started kissing again, and I suddenly felt sick to my stomach. I rolled over and stared out the window. They stopped at the sound of me moving, but as soon as I had settled down again, they rudely resumed.

What I would give for Meg to wake up and curse them out. She'd tell Alex…

Alex!

Oh gods. What was I going to do about Alex. I couldn't tell him... could I?

No. That'd break his heart.

But what if he found out _I _knew, and never told him?

He'd probably never talk to me again.

What if he doesn't want to be told?

What if he gets mad at me for _that? _

That'd break _my _heart.

Neither side- telling him, or not telling him- won over my heart _or _head that night… Merciful sleep put me out of my own self-caused misery.


	18. Something To Cross Off Of My Bucket List

The Shadow of the Moon

A Daughter of the Moon Trilogy Novel

Book 1

Chapter 18: Another Thing I've Done On My Bucket List…

I awoke due to a cruel person who unveiled the stream of sunlight emerging from the balcony doors. I opened my eyes.

Alex was standing over me. "Rise and shine, Sleeping Beauty."

I felt a pang of guilt as I quickly remembered last night. I looked over. Christa was up and so was Meg.

"How the hell did you get _her _up?" I jabbed a finger at my best friend.

He shrugged. "Same way as you."

I hit him on the arm and buried my head under the looming stack of pillows that I hadn't ejected off of the bed the previous night. Beads of sweat were forming on the back of neck, but I was determined to get just a few more minutes of sleep. I suddenly felt cool air on my neck, then the side of my face, and I jerked upward. Alex had removed all the pillows.

"So… you found me," I grumbled before laying back down. Alex yanked the covers down to my ankles.

"Doesn't bother me, I'm sweating." I responded.

Part of me wished he wasn't in such a good mood today. He was being so nice, and I felt so… guilty. I sighed and got up, but hesitated to punch him, then took a shower. I threw on an orange top with a v-neck and sleeves that were sewn at the hem halfway down the loose shirt itself. I tossed on a pair of gladiator sandals and dark wash shorts before drying my hair. The hotel provided all sorts of hair care supplies, and my hair that was usually equally stubborn as my personality for once did what I wanted it to do. I put on a little eyeliner and lip-gloss before meeting the others outside. Meg darted for a shower, and a few minutes later, walked out with a towel around her, and a brush stuck in her hair.

"Help!" She whimpered.

In a few minutes, Meg's hair was straight and glossy, and she had it slicked back into a prim ponytail.

Christa put her hair up in a messy bun that _still _looked styled.

We closed the door behind us and made our way down to the breakfast buffet. Ryan tapped my arm. "Do you always make a fashion statement when you go to eat?" He laughed.

I smirked. "No. And I never did." I looked down at my simple outfit which had been chosen in less than five minutes. It was far from a fashion statement, as opposed to Christa who was wearing a baby pink short sleeved terry cloth hoodie from Juicy Couture with gold script that said "Juicy Baby" on the back, a pair of designer shorts and leather sandals with gold accents.

_Hilary's past… _I scoffed in my own head. All she needed was three years on unnecessary Botox, and a boob job.

I cringed. _Why _did my father ever marry that phony?

I crossed my arms, suddenly angry and continued to march down the hallway.

The huge dining room was pretty. Crystal chandeliers hung over every table, and there was a large buffet. The guys settled in at a table, and let us (the girls) get a bite to eat. Meg proudly stacked her plate high with waffles, and I took a waffle, along with some bacon and a packet of syrup. I looked around for the brazier, and realized I wasn't at camp. I smiled to myself. I settled in-between Ryan and Meg and gratefully ate something filling- the first real meal I'd had in 2 days. I had lived off of that McMuffin-y thing, which didn't taste good the second day around (should have thought that out a bit more) and the water in the canteen we'd all lugged around with us. I gulped greedily at the cold water in my water goblet. I quickly shoveled all of my bacon into my mouth, followed by my waffle (though _that _took a few more minutes.) I grabbed Ryan's wrist, surprising him, and found that we had another hour until our flight according to his watch.

Zeus _ALMIGHTY! _

"Guys, I'll be right back."

I ran to our room and retrieved my backpack. I stole a bottle of water and hurriedly filled my canteen and grabbed those mini plastic tubs of cereal and three plastic spoons. Meg realized what I was doing, and disappeared. When she reappeared, she too was stocking up on Froot Loops.

I sat down at the table. "Are you guys going to get anything?" I asked as I dumped the cereal and artificial utensils into my backpack.

Alex nodded. "I already took some water, and I'm saving the fruit for later." For the first time, I realized the two oranges and the banana he'd taken. "They'll be little snacks for me throughout the day. No way they'll last till tomorrow."

"'Kay. Ryan. Christa. You guys probably should, too. Airline food sucks."

Ryan nodded. He had taken a tub of cereal to eat _now, _but instead he turned to me. "Can I store this in your backpack until we get back to the room?" I nodded.

Meg smiled from ear to ear. "We have a mini fridge in our room, right?"

I rolled my eyes. "_No, _Meg. We are _not _going to steal it."

Meg frowned. "I wasn't going to suggest that."

I raised an eyebrow.

"We should steal the stuff _inside of it!" _

"We don't have to steal it…"

"You're no fun."

I shrugged. "I'll leave a drachma inside and tell the manager that it's covered."

"Fine." Meg continued to stuff her face.

"I'm heading back up to the room."

"Me too." I looked down at her plate- which had only just previously contained at least three more bites. I then looked up at her cheeks. Okay then.

I elbowed her in the side once we left the dining hall and whispered, "I have to tell you something, but not here." I started sprinting to the room, and heard Meg's footsteps and heavy breath right behind me. We dashed to the elevator and forced the doors shut, by pushing the close button. "Ohmygod, Idon'tevenknowwheretobegin," I panted.

"Wha…?"

"Hold on," the doors opened and we ran to our room.

"Christa and Ryan! I woke up last night and they were making out in the bathroom!"

Meg's celery green eyes appeared to double in size. "Oh my gods!"

" _I know!" _I shrieked.

"What did Alex say?"

"Nothing…"

"He doesn't know, does he…?"

"No."

"Oh my god! You've got to tell him!"

"I can't! He wouldn't believe me, and even if he did, I'd feel bad! Plus we're about to be in the wild soon and I don't want to give Christa a good reason to try and feed me to a bear!"

"Either you tell him, or I will."

"Meg, _no!_"

Meg rolled her eyes. "Fine…" which was followed by a 'you better not' look from me. "FINE! I won't say a word."

"Thank you."

I started packing everything up and called a cab service to bring us to the airport. I prayed we would get there on time.

**(**

"COME _ON!" _Ryan grabbed Meg by the arm and was pulling her through the crowd. We were in a hurry to get to our gate and had no time to spare.

"Not my fault that midget stepped in front of me!" She huffed in reference to

"No, but it _is _your fault that you tried to pick a fight with her"

Meg sported a look that said "this is true."

She and Ryan fought like this all the way through the airport.

We finally were in the tunnel on our way to the plane when e slowed down a bit for walking. The plane was directly ahead, and I was exhaling heavily due to the extra luggage I was carrying, courtesy of Christa. Alex was shouldering a few of her bags, including his own. She got on the plane, dropped all of her bags in the aisle, and plopped into a seat melodramatically. Alex stooped to pick up the two bags and loaded them all swiftly onto the luggage rack.

He sat down next to her, and was instantly smothered by a rather peculiar woman in a bulky fur coat and a pinched look on her wan face. Ryan took the window seat, Meg the middle, and I snagged the aisle seat. My legs were as restless as my temper. There was no way I was sitting crammed against a wall or in-between two people. Ryan admitted to enjoying watching the clouds because it helped the time pass.

"You sure you don't mind taking the middle seat?" I asked Meg, even though I didn't want it either.

"Yeah," she nonchalantly waved away the thought with her hand. "I'm gonna be passed out anyway."

Which she was…In fifteen minutes.

I should have seen this coming. Her waking up early was a rare occasion. I took Meg's guide to mythological creatures and began to read about the Hydra. Well, there's only so much a person can find interesting about a sea monster with regenerating heads, so I also read about the sirens, and Medusa.

As we climbed higher and higher into the sky, I felt the temperature rising. I stood up to go to the bathroom and dab some cold water onto my face. Apparently, I stood up too quickly, and disturbed the nasty looking woman sitting in front of me. She raised a heavily penciled eyebrow, and turned around, her chunky gold earrings waggling madly.

I rose my hand to knock on the bathroom door when a boy a bit younger than me walked out. He had dark brown hair that fell sloppily into his mint green eyes. He mumbled something of what I assumed was an apology and went on his way down the aisle.

The woman in the coat's face pursed even more. "BRYCE! Where _have _you been?"

"S-sorry.."

He settled next to a girl with hair the color of raven feathers, and those same piercing eyes. They both stared at me as I went into the bathroom, muttering quietly, neither looking away. They were a row ahead of Meg and Ryan, but on the opposite side of the plane. The woman was seated to the right of them in the next row, while Alex and Christa were squished beneath her bulky furs. I quickly closed the door behind me, and stared at my reflection in the mirror. My hair was a bit askew and I had circles under my eyes. I sighed, wishing I'd brought concealer, but I didn't care enough to go back, so I just fixed my hair up quickly.

I walked out, and Bryce and the equally weird girl continued to stare at me. I'd seen them before…

I quickly sat down, staring back at them. I gave up and laid my head on the rest on my seat. I closed my eyes for just a minute, and apparently woke up half an hour later.

"Shailene!…_Shailene!… _Gods. _Wake up!" _

I jolted upright in my seat, and collided heads with Alex who was leaning over me. "I'm so sorry!"

He held his hand up. "It's fine, it's fine…"

He grabbed my arm and steered me toward the back of the plane.

"Do those kids look familiar to you?"

"Yeah."

"Do you remember that article Chiron showed us before you consulted the Oracle."

I shook my head 'no'.

"Those are them! Those are the kids that locked away in a padded cell somewhere! That's _them!" _

I dared a glance back, but Alex pushed my face back to him. "Don't look! That makes it obvious!"

"So…?"

"I think they know something about us…" he lowered his voice even lower.

I raised an eyebrow. "How could they…?"

"I don't know." He snapped. "It's just a guess…"

"What about that woman they're with? I thought they were locked away."

"That's what I thought, too." He said.

The prune-of-an old woman stood up and walked over to us. "Problem dearies?" Her chin waggled. I shook my head. "Well, I do. You half-bloods always strutting about. On a quest I presume?" I said nothing. Alex's jaw was clenched tight.

She sniffed deeply and made her way into the bathroom. I ran down the aisles and woke Meg and Ryan up. Alex tackled Christa. In a few minutes, we explained everything.

Alex leaned over his seat. "Something's not right with that woman. We should leave. Trade seats or something."

"Please. She's just an old hag. Who cares what she thinks?" Christa scoffed.

"Yes, but how did she know?" Ryan asked patiently.

Christa rolled her eyes. "How would I know, genius?"

Alex sighed. "Please." He said simply.

Christa seemed to back off. I saw something flicker across her face that looked like fear. She met my gaze and quickly looked away.

Suddenly, a firm hand grasped my shoulder, pointy nails scratching my arm. I cried out in pain, and looked down to see holes in my shirt, and a bit of blood. I look up and the woman was standing there, her beady black eyes fixed on me hungrily. She pulled me up, and threw me into the wall of the plane. My head hit the corner of the wall that faced the seats and the wall that had the bathroom door. She clawed at Christa who quickly jumped out of the way.

"Hades helm," she said, her crystal irises zeroing in on me. I felt dizzy, and leaned forward and looked at the wall. Blood was dripping onto my neck and was smeared slightly on the wall.

I saw Bryce take the girl I assumed was his sister and try to sneak her out, but the woman caught him.

"NO!" She snarled. "You will stay put!"

The boy slowly stepped in front of his sister, but didn't make any other sudden movements. She cowered slightly, but her fierce eyes told otherwise. I slowly tried to stand up, and staggered a bit. I grasped the wall for support, but my hand slipped, defeated. There was nothing there. I inched closer to my friends. Ryan reached out and pulled me behind him.

"It's hot in here, isn't it?" The woman purred. She started to remove her coat. "Why is crazy lady stripping?" Meg whispered in my ear.

The woman's back bent at a wretched, almost inhuman angle. She roared, and her teeth grew into fangs. Both of her eyes were now golden with black slits. She had wings and a lion's body.

The sphinx.

Suddenly the plane started to barrel downwards. A stewardess appeared with hazy, milky looking eyes. "Well, done." The woman had a leg of bronze and a leg that was covered in… goat hair?

Alex pulled out his sword and wielded it . He aimed for the sphinx, but she smashed him into the back wall as well. Meg jumped on her back and pulled her hair with all of her might, but the…whatever… grabbed her and threw her on top of him in a pile in the corner. I grabbed some sheets and tied them quickly so they made parachutes. Alex caught on fast enough and bashed in the window with the celestial bronze sword. I gave the kids a parachute, one for Ryan, one for Meg, Alex, Christa and I. Ryan jumped, the kids following shortly after.

The sphinx was still battling Alex, and he thrust the sword through her. I grabbed my backpack, and Meg's too. Alex followed suit. I jumped next. The amount of force I felt was insane, but the parachute did fill. I drifted about for a bit, and what seemed like both forever and a few seconds, I landed in a lake. My ankle hit the bottom and twisted precariously, but, I ripped through the surface. Just in time for someone to kick me in the head.

"Oof..dobepiiazklnvox" I was knocked underwater again. After a few seconds of utter confusion, I came back up. Alex grabbed my hand and spun me around. "Sorry!"

I paddled toward a dock that was perched against the lake's edge. It was a rather deep lake, actually. I tried to feel for the bottom with my foot, but when I started to sink, I kicked back up. A sharp pain made me yelp. Ryan, who was almost to the dock, paddled back around, put an arm around me and helped me over.

I paddled to the dock for no more than a yard, and hopped up the ladder. I collapsed, and rolled over, coughing up a bit of water. Ryan came up next, and Alex followed him, rolling his neck, inhaling sharply.

"What's wrong?"

"My neck hurts from when I hit the wall." His eyes scanned the water, searching. "Where's Christa?"

"What about Meg?" I added.

Suddenly a blond head popped over the edge of the dock. Meg crawled over to me. "You okay?"

"Yeah. You?"

"I've been better." she chirped.

I smiled.

Alex looked extremely nervous. "Where's Christa? I grabbed her when we jumped…"

"Huh?" Meg sounded.

"Yeah, she's afraid of heights. So, I grabbed her by her wrist, and made her jump with me."

Meg looked down. "Um, Alex?"

He turned to face her.

"You didn't grab Christa…You grabbed me…"

Alex's eyes hardened. "No! Sh-she was right behind me. I heard her scream when we jumped!"

Meg shook her head softly. "_She _didn't jump."

Realization dawned on Alex's face.

In the distance, an earth-shattering crash sounded. I flinched. Far away, smoke billowed up on the edge of a raging inferno. Alex started running toward the flames, though they were miles and miles away. Ryan ran after him.

"You don't look good," Meg's brows furrowed.

That's the last thing I remember.


	19. Planetarium Visits Pay Off

The Shadow of the Moon

A Daughter of the Moon Trilogy Novel

Book 1

Chapter 19: Planetarium Visits Really Pay Off

I woke up on very firm ground, and as soon as I opened my eyes, I regretted it. Thick smoke poured into them. I inhaled as a reflex, and rolled onto my stomach to force the smoke out of my eyes. I gasped for breath and hacked until I could breathe again. I took a slow, shaky breath, but someone had tapped me on the back, knocking it right out of me again. I turned my head, expecting to see Alex's face in the shadows, but I saw Ryan's.

"You okay?" He put a hand behind my back and helped me sit up.

"Yeah," I turned my back to the blaze, and crawled forward a little and plopped back down again. To my right, Meg was passed out. She had a thick blanket sprawled over her.

"Where'd that come from?" I asked Ryan, pointing to the quilt.

"I grabbed it before I jumped," he said quietly.

Satisfied with that answer, I put my head back down on my folded arms, and took a few steady breaths. To my left there was….nothing? I looked all around, and even sat up to look on the other side of the fire. Alex was gone.

"Where'd he go? Did he come back?"

Ryan nodded solemnly. "He's taking it pretty hard…He found us after a while, but he's off in the woods somewhere for now."

I looked around, and for the first time noticed my surroundings. We were in a clearing with a royal blue tent, and a burgundy one of equal size right next to it. We were entirely surrounded by woods, and guessing by the slope that lead into the woods, we were at a higher elevation than sea level.

"Where are we, exactly?"

Ryan ran a hand through his hair, dark shadows encircling his warm, brown eyes. "Dunno, exactly." Probably a few miles northwest of where we landed." His voice trailed off a bit towards the end of his sentence.

"Have you been staying up? I asked, surveying the bruise like shadows on his face."

"Nah," he said dismissively, shaking his head in a nonchalant way.

I raised an eyebrow. "I have amazing lie-dar…"

"…Okay. But I've only been up for a little bit."

I shrugged, letting the subject drop. I was far too tired to point out that based on the moon's position in the sky, it must have been 2 o'clock in the morning. Instead, I asked a question that had been rolling along my tongue, teasing the crack in my lips, dying to be asked. "How long have I been asleep?"

He glanced at his watch. "I'd say about 12 hours…maybe more."

I grimaced. "Sorry."

"Don't apologize. You needed it."

"Well so do you. You look like Hades." I rolled onto my side and pushed myself up, my back cracking stubbornly. I stretched my arms out, which brought on an enormous yawn. "I'll wait up for him, if you want."

He started to protest, but I shut him down. "No, you need it. Trust me."

He smiled gratefully. "Thanks." He stood up and walked over to me. He put a hand on my shoulder. I winced, noticing a slight sting. "Be careful."

I nodded, smiling. "I'm pretty sure I have a can of pepper spray in my bag."

He laughed- a tired, fleeting rumble that barely lasted long enough to escape his throat. "Good night." He strode over to the blue tent. "By the way, you're stuff's in there," he informed me, pointing to the adjacent tent.

I walked quietly over to Meg. Her slight body was curled up tightly on her side, a hand under her head serving as a meager pillow. I touched her arm and she was ice cold. I shook her gently, prodding her awake. She handled it pretty well except for the one good swat she gave my shoulder. The stinging traveled down my whole left arm this time. I noticed Meg stood up, a blank expression in her eyes. They looked like liquid chlorophyll. She stood up, and stumbling over to the tent, I noticed her eyes were shut, and she was also heading for the wrong tent. I grabbed her wrists as gently and quickly as I could, and steered her to the burgundy tent, her eyes shut. I put a hand on her back, to help her stoop through the makeshift flap that was our "door," and she nearly collapsed once in. There was a fine spread of thick, fluffy sleeping bags on the floor, and a few lumpy looking pillows. Meg was huddled in the far corner of the tent. She looked up sleepily, with a goofy grin on her face. "Merry Christmas to all, and to all a good night." She was snoring before she hit the pillows.

I smirked to myself.

I collected the thick quilt that lay, discarded on the ground. It appeared to be made of some sort of soft, flannel material. The jade green stood out against the dark, grassy floor, and I scooped it up in my arms. I beat it a few times, to shake any loose dirt or leaves off of it, before returning to the tent. My bare foot caressed something, steely and cold. I looked down to find a syringe that lay carelessly at the foot of the tent. I kicked it aside, watching it descend downhill before landing in the brush that lay behind our tents. I looked to the other side of the fire, where there was no sign of us being there, as opposed to the east side. Just barren land, that was shrouded by forest.

I tiptoed through the tent opening, and placed the quilt around Meg who was shivering, despite the layers of blankets surrounding her. Her skin was shiny and dewy in the moonlight. She looked like she was swathed in stardust.

I left the tent as quietly as I'd come in, and looked for things to kindle the flames with one last time, before I too, went to bed. There was a meager supply of twigs and dried leaves, and two rotting logs. I put in the smaller of the logs, which gave off a nasty odor, and about a quarter of the twigs and leaves. I took a log stick and prodded them around for a bit, since I really had nothing to do.

Time passed- I wasn't even sure how much, but I felt my lids growing heavier and heavier. Still no sign of Alex. I'm sure he'd see the smoke rising up, especially since he was probably at a lower elevation than us. I padded over to the tent, and quickly changed into a baggy, long sleeved tee, and fleece pajama bottoms. I hung the battery operated lantern that had been placed in-between the two tents, and judging from the fluorescent blue glow emitting from Ryan's tent, he had one two. There was a little hook at the highest arch of the ceiling, and I hung in on there, letting the batteries burn.

I laid down, my head in the front left corner of the tent, angling my face toward the opening. Through the mesh top, I could vaguely make out some stars, even through the obscured setting the mesh created. I racked my brain, trying to remember some constellations, but all I could remember was the Dippers, Ursa Major, and Orion. The only one I could make out clearly through the limited vision was Orion. I recognized the three stars shimmering in a row. Orion's belt it was called.

I tried to look for something else up there, but the soft wind that rustled the deciduous leaves outside, and the crackling of the fire closed my eyes, and steadied my breathing before I could resist.


	20. Mother of Zeus!

The Shadow of the Moon

A Daughter of the Moon Trilogy Novel

Book 1

Chapter 20: Mother of Zeus

The screaming pierces through my peaceful sleep once more. I open my eyes as quick as a bullet flies. I'm safe in the tent. I roll my eyes at myself. I'm drenched in sweat again. Thank Zeus for deodorant!

I replace my long sleeved tee with one that has ¾ sleeves, and a home-made v-neck. I had taken scissors and cut the finished collar off, because it was itchy and restraining. The gray shirt now exposed my collar bone and hung lazily off of my right shoulder. I braided my long hair and swept it to the side. I stood up and tilted my head back, my face flat, and facing the mesh patch that covered the peak of the tent. I inhaled the fresh air. I loved that outdoorsy smell of burning wood. It's even better when there's an actual fire. I could practically smell the ashes charring. I wondered what time it was.

The sky was lightening up, now. It was now a grayish cerulean color. Orion was still glimmering up there, but not as prominent as before. It wouldn't be long until he disappeared into the heavens, only to return with replenished exuberance tomorrow night. I couldn't remember his whole back story, but I knew one of his stars was Betelgeuse, which was "at the base of his extended arm." For some reason the guide at the planetarium had been a bit anxious to say "armpit." I somehow knew that _that _arm either brandished a sword or had a fist pumping in victory. Or defeat, whatever. I also knew he was a hunter, which reminded me of the grim task that still awaited me. I groaned, and plopped back down on the sleeping back I'd been crashed on before. It was army green, with gray fleece lining. I swapped it with a cranberry one, because my sweat had penetrated through the other one. Even the surface was clammy from my body heat. I didn't bother to swap pillows. Instead I flipped the same one to the other side, and placed my overheated forehead against the ice cold surface. I breathed out a muffled sigh of relief into the pillow, and started to close my eyes again. I heard a crinkling sound, as Meg tossed and turned before settling again. I was at peace finally, and fell asleep with ease.

**(**

I could hear the voices before I could open my eyes. It's like they would not open. They were muffled, but I knew they were male. My eyes opened the tiniest bit, my eyelashes grazing against each other. I was so close to surfacing, but they shut themselves again. This time I rubbed at them, like a taut rubber band that needed to be loosened up.

"I'll wake Shailene up," one of the voices announced, clearly panicked. I rubbed at my eyes again, this time, a cool hand slipped underneath my neck, supporting my head as the other held my back. It was like I was floating, and gravity forgot to do its job. My body glided upward. Then, someone miraculously turned the force back on, because I felt my body go limp. I heard the voice saying my name, over and over, until I finally found the strength to open my swollen eyes.

Alex was cradling me, a muscle in his jaw twitched. "Are you okay? Are you hurt?"

"What?"

"Does anything hurt you?" He repeated, his voice firmer this time.

"No," I said dazed. "Why would anything be hurting me?"

I heard gasping sounds, and saw Meg clutching her stomach in the corner. Ryan was holding her to him, shushing her gently, and trying to soothe her. Her face looked shiny, now, too, but not that gentle iridescence that had complimented her skin so well last night, but a clammy, sickly looking glaze over her entire face.

Alex shifted his arm around me, and moved the hand that was on my neck to the back of my shoulder.

He started to lay me back down, but paused, suspending me in midair.

"What's that?"

"What's _what?"_

"That."

"I dunno what you're talking about…"

"_That! _That…._thing. _On your shoulder."

I could see his arm moving in circular motions like he was rubbing something, but I still couldn't feel it. My whole shoulder was numb. He gently shifted the neckline of my shirt so that it came down over my left shoulder.

I tried to crane my neck, and see what he was talking about.

"_Great…" _He groaned. "Ryan get out, for now."

"No…" Meg pleaded weakly, grasping to Ryan's tee shirt.

"Shh…" He said consolingly, continuing to rock her.

Alex set me down, gently on my side.

He made his way over to Meg, and gently pried her off of Ryan. "It's okay. He can come back in a little while," he handled Meg gently.

Meg continued to make muffled moaning sounds, her body clenched up unnaturally around her hand that grasped at her stomach. Ryan smoothed her stringy hair back into a ponytail, away from her sticky face.

Alex stooped down slightly, careful not to hit his head on the lantern. "Ryan, come _on." _

Ryan folded Meg's arms from around his neck back onto her stomach and followed Alex silently out of the tent.

Alex poked his head back in. "Both of you should probably take your shirts off. Lay on your backs, and cover yourselves up. I'll be back in a bit."

He zipped the tent back up, and I watched his silhouette disappear off of the canvas.

Meg's eyes slammed onto mine. "Yes, doctor," she smirked.

I smiled, and even laughed a little. Before I knew it, I was clutching my own stomach. A writhing pain ricocheted up from somewhere within me. I cried out a little. Grasping the hem of my shirt, I yanked it over my head, my turquoise bra, bright. My arms were covered in a wild, red rash. Little bumps stood up like Braille all over my arms, neck and chest. I looked at Meg, and she looked at me. A large welt rose up from her back. There was one on the bottom of her shoulder blade, and one on the side of her neck. They looked ready to pop.

"D-do I have those bumps, too?"

She cocked her head from her pillow. "I have bumps on me? Do you mean my rash?"

I slowly shook my head no.

"That's weird… I can't even feel them."

I felt the blood drain from my face. Whatever it was, we had the same thing. I felt disgusted, looking at Meg's swollen body, to know I looked like that too. Meg slipped into a nearby sleeping bag. I did the same, holding the bottom part of the fabric to my chest as tightly as possible.

I took slow steady breaths, the pangs of pain becoming more and more regular. It was like I swallowed a needle. Every time I took a breath, I felt like when you go on an elevator, and your stomach drops, except for after my stomach "dropped," a stabbing pain replaced where my stomach was supposed to be.

Fifteen minutes seemed to pass, and I slowly could feel the sickness taking over my whole body. Meg wasn't doing much better. She was tossing and turning, just to get into a comfortable position to keep the pressure off of her stomach. She was quaking so badly, I went to roll over to her, and hold her, but I almost threw up just from the sudden movement. I broke out into a sweat, and within a few minutes, I was cold again. The sweat evaporated off of my exposed back.

Finally, Alex returned, holding a mortar and pestle in his hands. He had bags full of herbs, and…seaweed?…and a bunch of other stuff I couldn't identify. He knelt down next to me, but I swatted at him. "Her first," I croaked. I was slowly losing my voice as well.

He took one look at her, nodded tersely, and went to her side immediately. He went to work- doing what, I don't know. I heard her cry out in pain, which rattled me a little. I spent the remaining time wondering why she'd cried out like that.

After a few minutes, I heard him say to her, "Here. These will help you sleep."

He started asking her a bunch of questions, all to which seemed to lead him absolutely nowhere. I laid my head back down, the hair that had escaped my braid sticking to my neck and forehead. I felt like a dog- I wondered if I was panting this loud in reality, or if I was really the only one who could hear it.

After a few more minutes, I felt something cold drizzle down my back. My muscles jumped at the icy liquid.

I felt a strong hand nestle into the crook of my shoulder where it had hunched next to my neck. It slowly pushed it down. My other one did the same on its own.

"Relax. It's just water. You okay?"

"Yeah." My voice was gone, replaced by wretched wheezing sounds, now.

"You don't have to talk. At least not for now."

I heard the sound of wood clacking together, the occasional splashing of liquids, and then the grinding slowly turned into a mashing sound. Then I heard plastic rustling.

The cold hand was back on my shoulder, sending shivers up my spine.

"This is going to hurt for a second, okay?" He said slowly.

"What? Why?"

"These welts are poisonous. They came from something tiny. It's probably some weird sort of bug bite." I felt his hand move its way up to my shoulder. "There's a little barb like thing in it. I need to snip it off, or else I can't get the infection out." He pushed down on my shoulders again. He unhooked my bra, and unzipped the sleeping bag a little more, peeling the bag away from the rest of my back. "There's only one. I'll make it quick, I promi-"

"OW!"

"Done."

I twisted my neck around. I could feel the scowl engraved on my face.

He gave me a small smile.

I relaxed the muscles on my face, feeling better now that it was over with.

Something cold was being slathered on the welt, though I couldn't make out the texture due to the numbness.

"What about you? Are you allergic to anything."

I made a "mm-mm" noise in my throat to indicate "no."

"No? Um…Was you shoulder hurting you at all yesterday?"

I nodded.

"When did you realize it hurt."

"When someone touched it."

"Before or after you fell asleep?"

"After."

"Were you on the ground?"

I nodded.

"Okay. Can you sit up?"

I pondered this for just a second. _Could I? _I propped myself up on one elbow slowly, then nodded.

He zipped up the sleeping bag, and clasped my bra for me. "Do you need help?"

I shook my head "no."

He took out a long roll of bandage, and wrapped it from underneath my arm, across the shoulder, and back underneath several times. To ensure that it stayed, he wrapped the upper part of my bicep too, then pinned it.

"Thank you," I forced the sound out.

"You're welcome."

He propped up a stack of pillows. "It's okay to lay down, your shoulder's wrapped."

I nodded, and laid back down. The squishy pillows caressed my sore and aching body.

I started scratching at a spot on my arm, and then I realized that's where the rash was.

So did Alex. He smacked my hand away. He parted his lips, but I cut him off.

"I know, I know. Don't scratch it."

He nodded, and handed me a bottle of calamine lotion. I smeared it on my arms and chest. I wiped the excess on my neck. It was the color of a runny strawberry smoothie, but a little paler. I stretched my arms out, careful not to rub the lotion off, and closed my eyes, ready to sleep more. The pain in my stomach was subsiding mercifully, and I could breathe much easier now.

I looked over at Meg. Even in sleep, her brow was furrowed, and she was drawing jagged breaths.

Alex touched my arm lightly. "Are you okay?"

I nodded. "You?"

In a few seconds, tears began to well up in his crystalline eyes. A warm tear trickled down his face and onto my hand, which he rubbed away roughly with his thumb. "I will be."

I reached out and held his hand. He placed his other hand on top of it, smiling, more to himself than to me.

"Thank you." He murmured.

"For what?"

"For this." He gestured to my arms and shoulder. He laughed at my bewilderment. "Helping people makes me happy. It helps me clear my mind."

"Oh," I said softly.

"Trust me, I wish you'll get better, too. It was just nice to be able to forget for just a little bit."

"Thanks."

He nodded, turning my hand over in his. "I just realized how corny that whole 'helping people' spiel sounded." He smiled. "But this is what I want to do when I get older…"

"What, be a doctor?"

He nodded. "I like the responsibility. Helping people when they're miserable…It makes me feel like…almost like a better person."

I nodded, considering. "I still have no idea about what I want to do."

"That's okay. You don't have to. I've known for a long time, though. I'm lucky. My mom and my uncle were really close. He was a doctor, too. He would take me to work with him all the time. He got really sick though. He can't practice anymore."

"He didn't get sick at his job, did he?" I heard the undertone of panic rising in my own voice. I scolded myself for sounding dumb. Obviously he had something bad, and what's done is done when it comes to diseases like that.

"No, he was diagnosed with cancer. They treated him for it, but his body is so worn, now. Bad things happen to good people." He pumped my hand gently.

"I'm so sorry," I spoke so low, I wasn't sure if the fever was affecting my voice, or if I was really speaking that low.

"Don't be." He released my hand, and placed it back on top of my body. He gave it a pat before he stood up.

He quietly collected his things, and reorganized what was strewn everywhere. He slung his backpack over his shoulder. He stepped around me as he picked up the mortar and pestle, and the bag of…

"What is that?" I asked, pointing at the bag.

He smiled. "Seaweed."

"And…?"

"…And mud…"

I nodded. "Just curious." I threw in for good measure.

"Okay. Stay under a few blankets, but keep your shoulder above so it doesn't get warm too quickly. This way it doesn't get warm, and feel sticky and gross."

"Okay. Sounds good."

He gives me two, small, rounded pills. "These will knock you right out. Kind of like Meg," he says.

Finally, a peaceful expression has settled over her face, and she's finally breathing regularly. I reach out to fluff her pillow, but he holds me back. "I'll stay with you guys and do that stuff." He gets up from his perch, and helps Meg adjust herself.

I gulp down the pills, eager for sleep, and before I know it, it's granted to me.

I hear "Shay….Shay?" softly as I drift away into a darkness that doesn't frighten me, but welcomes me endearingly and embraces me as it encloses itself around me.


	21. Suspicion

The Shadow of the Moon

A Daughter of the Moon Trilogy Novel

Book 1

Chapter 21: Suspicion

The next day and a half was spent like that: taking medicine, eating, sleeping. Nothing too exciting happened. One day, Ryan came back from the woods with a wild turkey, and -shockingly- a sleek black horse. "I found it in the woods," he announced proudly. I wore a blanket around my shoulders, and with a little help found I could stand. At least for a brief period of time. "You found a perfectly groomed horse in the middle of the woods?" Alex asked him skeptically.

Ryan shrugged. "There must be stables not too far away from here. Probably a runaway."

"With a saddle and bridle intact?" I asked.

Ryan shrugged. "The good news is, we can finally get on the road tonight, if Meg's well enough." He started fussing with the horse, and Alex and I exchanged a knowing glance, both of us picking up on the fact that he evaded my question. He stole it. Most likely, anyway.

The sun was setting, and we roasted the turkey as quickly as possible. We found a can of broth in Ryan's backpack- apparently he was good friends with a Demeter girl, and she gave him all sorts of food. Ryan sliced up bits of turkey to make a soup for Meg to eat. I was almost back to normal, though I still would sweat occasionally, and I had occasional bouts of nausea, if I moved too quickly when I was laying down. Meg, however, was still having the same grueling stomach pains, and her fever was barely going down. Alex had to come to the tent regularly to check on her. He gave her medicine to bring the fever down, and told us it was making progress, just very slowly.

Apparently, Meg has an exceptionally weak immune system and gets sick a lot. It could take her up to four or five days to beat a common cold- one that most people got over in a day or two. Sure they would have lingering symptoms after, but she would still have the full-blown virus in her system.

Ryan finished heating up the makeshift soup and brought it to her with my canteen, full of the last bottle of water I had. Ryan carried Meg out of the tent, and sat with her around the fire, speaking softly to her and kissing her forehead from time to time. Alex and I went down to the lake to purify some water with the small bottle of iodine he had. I collected all of the bottles in my backpack, and made a small bundle of them in an unused blanket.

Alex lead the way, and I just followed alongside him. Apparently, he had been at the lake when I was asleep that first night, so he knew the way perfectly. He brought the iodine and a flashlight.

Once we were a safe distance away from Ryan and Meg, I turned to him. "So. Ryan and Meg. How much did I miss when I was asleep?" I joked. They were almost inseparable now. It was never one without the other.

He shrugged. "Not sure. I was out in the woods trying to find some wood, I came back and they were making out. So I left again…I missed it, too. Sorry, I'm not much help."

I laughed. "Meg'll tell me when she gets better again."

He smiled, too. "Will you be planning to share?" He nudged me with his elbow.

"If you plan on listening."

We walked for a little bit longer. I couldn't tell what he was thinking, but I knew something was bothering him. I had a feeling it had to do with Christa. I felt bad because I didn't have any of those "She was a good person," "She's an angel now," type things to say about her. The side I saw of her, didn't give me many nice things to say about her, so I opted not to say anything. Anything except for, "She's in a better place, I'm sure." He gave me a sad smile, and he looked up as we reached the dock. I rolled up my sweatpants, and stood on the bottom rung of the small ladder. I filled the bottles with water, and passed each one to Alex, as he purified it, and capped it. After I handed over the sixth bottle, I climbed back up, and sat next to him.

The sun was hovering above the horizon. We probably had about half an hour before it went down completely. He finished adding the iodine, and leaned back on his elbows, his legs stretched out in front of him. Ahead of us, I hadn't noticed before, loomed some snow-capped mountains. When jumping out of a plane, one tends to be oblivious to such things. I played with a deformed nail that stuck out a bit from the dock.

"Where d'you think we are?" I asked quietly.

He shrugged. "Not sure." He answered truthfully.

I sighed. I wondered when the quest would really pick up. Surely, we were running out of time…

"Don't worry. Everything will be fine," he said assuringly.

"I hope so. How are we even supposed to find Artemis?" I huffed. "it's not like there's a flashing neon sign that says 'Goddess Ahead!' I mean really, how do they expect us to…?"

I was interrupted by Alex laughing. He was shrouded in gold from the setting sun, his hair ablaze; eyes lit up and shining. It reminded me of being in a pool, and looking up at the surface of the water- the rays of sunlight pouring through the ever-moving water, being refracted, and shining brightly.

"You're not a very good listener, you know."

"Yes I am! That was just funny."

I roll my eyes in mock annoyance. He pushes me so hard, I almost knock all of the water into the lake.

"Idiot!" I hit him harder, which sends him lunging into me.

"Get off!" I struggle against him as he tries to pin me down.

"Take it back!" He says smiling, wrestling with my arms.

"I mean it!"

"So do I!"

I uncap a bottle of water and splash it into his eyes. It pours down his nose and hair and starts dripping onto me.

"Wanna go for a swim?" He says, his smile slowly creeping back to his ears.

"_No!" _

But he's already scooped me up, over his shoulder. I panic as I see the dock vanishing quickly beneath his feet. I smack him on the shoulder with all of my might. "I'm serious! _Stop!" _

And he does.

But I don't.

He launches me into the water with more speed than I react with. I hold my breath at the last second, and swim up to the dock. I see him leaning over, looking for a sign of me, but I'm directly underneath him in the cover of the rippling water. I pop up, and snatch his dog tags, pulling downward, sending him toppling into the water, too. He directs a shove at me, but I dodge it and surface before he can try again.

He surfaces too, and shakes him hair in my face.

"That was rude."

He laughs. "So was pulling me in!"

"So was _throwing _me in!"

"So is this!"

He ducks back under, and grabs my ankle and pulls it toward him, down, down, and deeper still. He laughs, and motions running with his arms, then points upward. He wants to race to the surface. I nod. He makes a one with his hand, then a two, and then he's off, with me right behind. I surface two seconds after he does.

"I win," he smiles, gloating.

I splash him in the face, and he retorts, doing the same. I go to splash him again, laughing, but he grabs my wrists and pins them to my sides, laughing still. I flail and try to kick him, but he maneuvers around every one.

"Give up yet?"

I give him a swift kick in the gut, with an "oomph," from him.

"Nope." I duck underneath, and yank my arms from his grasp. I swim over to the ladder, and get out before he does. He's a step behind me.

"Nope." I push him back down.

This time, he shoots upward and scales the ladder quickly, and with ease. "Truce! Gods!"

"So you surrender?"

"No…I'm asking for a truce."

"Right. _You're_ asking for a truce…"

"Right, but I'm asking for you to agree to a truce."

"So, you're asking for me to surrender, too?"

He smiles at me. We've got to get back, now." He refills the bottle with water, and purifies it himself, doing it rather quickly, now. "C'mon." He loads the water back up, and grabs the iodine. He's in such a hurry, knocks the flashlight over the edge of the dock.

"Shit," he whispers. "Oh, well. We'll just have to move faster, now."

He swings the bundle over his shoulder, and grabs my arm in his hand. He starts taking off at a pace faster than I was ready for, so I stumble for a second, but eventually fall back into place beside him, we hurry through the forest- the canopy above filtering the golden light, which now only dapples the forest floor. We pick up our pace yet again before making it back to the campsite. Ryan was just leaving the tent Meg and I shared. He looked over his shoulder before darting across the clearing and into the other side of the woods. He didn't seem to have seen Alex or I.

"I wonder was that was about…" Alex strained to see him, but the trees already

swallowed him.

"Probably went to get some wood for the fire," I suggested.

"Yeah, maybe," he gave up trying to find him. He handed me two bottles of water, and then went to his tent.

"Aren't you going to check…?" I started, but he was already in his tent.

I hurried into mine and got undressed, leaving the zipper open a tad at the top of the door to let in more fresh air. Meg was fast asleep. I was huddled up when I heard the zipper of a tent. It wasn't ours…Maybe Ryan came back.

I looked through the flap, but instead of Ryan coming back, I saw Alex _leaving. _A flashlight beam danced ahead of him as he marched straight for the woods, shoulders squared, stride angry. I grabbed a flashlight, and headed after him in the twilight. I tiptoed quietly behind him, until I had the downhill advantage, I ran and caught up to him, planting my hand on his shoulder.

"Ale-"

_Swoosh_

I ducked in time to miss his fist, hurtled through the air.

"God! You scared me!" He helped me up. "What the hell are you trying to do give me a heart attack? I could have hit you!"

"What's wrong?"

"He's still not back."

"So?"

"So…we made a storage pile three minutes from here that we didn't feel like taking down. It was huge. There's no way we ran out. Besides, look at the heap next to the fire. There's plenty to get us through tonight."

I followed his accusing finger. He was right.

"Well, maybe he's…"

"I don't care what he _might _be doing! I want to know what he_ is _doing." he tried to walk past me, but I stepped in front of him.

"Why do you care? It's probably no big deal…"

"I didn't tell you because I didn't want to scare you, and have you run and tell Meg, but there's something wrong with that guy."

He pushed me aside, and I stepped in front of him again. I placed both hands on his chest, and when he tried to move, I grabbed fistfuls of his sweatshirt. "You're scaring me," I pleaded. His eyes softened a little, but his face remained as hard and impassive as steel. _That _got him. He took my hands off of him. "Shay, stop it. You don't know that guy like I do. He's said things that have almost made me _sick. _About Meg…_and _you. Let me handle this. I'll be back in a few minutes if I can't find him. I'm not launching a manhunt for the guy. I don't care if he comes back." I grabbed his hand again, and his face softened this time. "I'll be back, I promise." He gave me a kiss on the cheek, that lingered on my skin long after he had plunged into the forest. I ran back to the tent, suddenly afraid to be so exposed and in the open. I closed the door to the tent, and huddled in my corner, praying to Zeus he would be back soon.

**(**

I awoke due to the sensation that my insides were collapsing. A heavy weight pushed down on top of me, almost daring me to breathe. I pushed myself upward, and made out a shadow in front of me. "Alex?"

A cool hand reached out to caress my face, before pulling me into him. He took a long shuddering breath before leaning in to kiss me, and for a second, I let him. He was gentle at first, but then, he was grasping the back of my neck so hard, I thought my head would snap off. I tried to pull away, but he came back, slowly leaning onto me, and grabbing my wrists, twisting them. I let out a scream, but a heavy hand clamped down on me, forcing me to the floor. His lips smacked hungrily onto mine, his hands entangling themselves in my hair, pulling and tugging. I was gasping for breaths in-between, trying desperately to get him off. I cried out again, but this time the hand reached out and smacked my cheek. Hot tears were welling in my eyes.

"Shut up."

I froze. That wasn't Alex.

Ryan leaned closer to me, and was so close to my face, I could see his pupils pulsing at me furiously, despite the dark. He grabbed my throat, in his hand, and something warm and sticky was transferred from his skin to mine. He leaned in to kiss me again, but I pushed him away. "ALEX!" I screamed at the top of my lungs, resulting in a blow to my ribs. I expected to hear the canvas rustling a few feet away, followed by the zipper of the tent, but there was silence. A lone owl hooted in the distance.

"I _said, SHUT. UP!" _

"Where's Alex?" My voice disobeyed the hatred in my heart, as it wobbled.

"He's not here." I could sense an evil grin spreading across his face. His stroke my face, letting his fingertips linger. That sticky stuff was everywhere. "Now. You're going to do everything I tell you to, or he won't come back. Ever. Understand?"

I nodded. He backed off of me. "Good. The first thing I want you to do is never tell Meg. I'll know if you do. Trust me." He slowly got off of me, and left the tent.

I swabbed my neck with my own fingers and shined the flashlight on them. What I saw nearly turned my stomach inside out. It was freshly drawn blood.


	22. I Lead A Two Person Jailbreak

The Shadow of the Moon

A Daughter of the Moon Trilogy Novel

Book 1

Chapter 22: I Lead A Two-Person Jailbreak

I had cried myself to sleep that night. I'd never been so terrified in my life. I was terrified in general, and for people. Myself, Meg, Alex… I was wrought with terror when I saw the blood on my fingers. It must have been his, which only scared me further to know that he was out there somewhere, and wounded; in pain. I couldn't begin to plan an escape. Ryan would never let us go. I was so afraid of the consequences that I barely moved from that tent all day. He came in once, and I pretended to be sleeping, hoping that might turn him off in the sense that there would most likely be no reaction from me. Maybe that was it, or maybe it was pure luck that he didn't touch me. Or Meg.

Oh, gods. Meg.

What was I going to do? Even if I tried to plan some sort of escape, she'd never come along. She'd fallen for him.

"You up?" I heard her squeak in the corner.

I nodded, not moving.

"Did he hurt you?"

I rolled over. "What?"

"You know…_him_."

I continued to stare at her. This couldn't be real.

"Not Alex," she lowered her voice even more that time.

"You kn-know?"

She nodded. "I really like him at first. But then he started…forcing himself on me, and…and…" She trailed off and started bawling, shoving a pillow in her face to muffle the sounds. I looked for shadows on any of the tent walls before I crawled over to her. I held her body in my arms, and she threw her arms around me. We rocked, calming each other for a while.

I felt like a slave. I didn't even feel free enough to think degrading thoughts.

"He…has Alex." I whispered to her.

Her cracked lips that were the last part of her to recover parted, wind coming in…wind going out.

"Is that what…?" She traced the side of my face where I knew there was blood.

I bit my lip, and nodded.

"Oh my gods…We've got to get out of here, Shay…"

"I know. I just need to think of a way how…or when, I should say."

"Nighttime would put us both at a disadvantage, and we couldn't use a flashlight because it'd give us away…" She said my thoughts aloud.

"Right, but if we leave in the early morning…"

"…And he wakes up to find us gone…"

"We're screwed," I finish, swallowing.

She nods, silently. "But we can't stay," she sniffs.

Part of me wants to ask her to stop saying that, but the other part of me understands, she's talking rhetorically to herself, not to me.

Maybe, if we can leave about an hour before the sun comes up- he won't be up then, we'll be able to see our way a little. Then, by the time he wakes up and finds us gone," I make sure to whisper especially now, "We'll have enough light to move us even faster, and we'd be long gone…"

Meg nods. "Let's do it."

Above, the sky is purple, and orange, and electric blue, and just about every color in-between. The sun must be setting.

" We'll keep a watch. You sleep first. I'll wake you up in a few hours. We can't be tired if we're going to carry out a plan like this."

She nods, and lays down. After a few minutes, I almost nod off. "I can't sleep," she announces. "Not yet." I laugh, nervously. "Okay. I'll go first. I'm actually tired." I lay my head down, and listen to something to lull me to sleep, but there's nothing, just Meg's steady breathing. I squeeze my eyes shut, trying to force myself to block out everything around me and to sink into the blackness from when Alex applied the poultice to my shoulder.

_Alex…_

I can feel the tears brimming, even through my closed eyes. Soon that blackness finds me again, but this time it's suffocating, swirling me around and around…beating me up, fighting me for my breath, battering my rib cage…

**(**

Meg wakes me up and we alternate…then I wake her up and we alternate again. The same thing happens one more time, before we decide it's time to go.

I use the shoelaces from my Converses to strap a tightly rolled sleeping bag to my backpack. Meg grabs a pillow, and stuffs it inside her own backpack. She also hooks the lantern with a bungee cord to her backpack, and I had been extra careful to stock a flashlight in mine too. As a precaution, I emptied all of the batteries from the other flashlights. For two reasons 1- so we would have extra batteries, and 2- our tent had all but one flashlight, and the other is perched on a log by the fire outside.

Once we're out, Meg gives me a boost, and I look through the mesh part of Ryan's tent. He's fast asleep. We empty the batteries from his flashlight, and tiptoe across the clearing. Once, we're a few yards in, we look back to find his tent undisturbed. We follow a small trail until I see the pile of wood Alex told me about.

"He has the woods memorized at least this far… We'll go a little further, then cut through, okay?" I say to Meg. She nods. We start to jog, and I relay, to her, the story Alex told me last night. She visibly shivered when I got to the part Alex said about him being a different person around him than us.

"That _little…_!"

"Shhh!"

We stop, then she nods quietly, but cracks her neck and grumbles to herself a little and we trek further into the woods. We eventually ditch the trail, and take off at a sprint, leaving nothing but dust in our trails. We run for what seems like forever, Meg stumbling, trying to stay on her feet, and me, clutching at the growing pain in my side, and the stiffness in my hip. We don't let up, though. We keep on going for what seems like forever, until she finally yells, "Alright! I think we're good."

I look around, and find no part of that argue-worthy. We slow our pace tremendously. I give her a bottle of water, and she gives me a granola bar- one of two she'd been hoarding for when she got better. We eat them up, greedily. Meg has lost quite a bit of weight since she'd been sick and up until now. I hadn't eaten all day yesterday. I feel like a black hole- I could consume anything given to me and still be hungry.

We wander on for quite a bit, not sure where to go.

Meg mutters something, I don't quite catch.

"Huh?"

"_I said…_Do you think he's alive?"

"I don't know." I pray that Ryan had been telling the truth last night, silently.

We walk some more.

We make small talk, but we both know that nothing can fill the still silence between us. I don't want to talk about Alex, she doesn't want to talk about Ryan. Well, we're out of current topics. We are both more than happy- relieved, even- to let the conversation drop.

**(**

The day goes by, and we have intricately woven a path through the forest that only a madman could decoded. So many twists and turns, we even backtracked, and then headed in another direction. Meg feels free to assume we are safe, but I push her, and push her until she caves. "What are we going to do? Walk all night? The lunatic would never, _never _in a million years have even the slightest chance to find us, so why the Hades are you so worrie- whooooaaa."

We wandered our way uphill slowly until we emerge from the cover of the trees.

Even Meg is speechless, which is just as pleasant of a surprise as this is: Staring us straight in the face is maybe 15 yards of grass, and then the edge of a cliff. That's not the particularly breathtaking part, though. A group of maybe 30-40 girls from about 12 years old to 18 are staring back at us, flanked by shimmering, silver tents. Some of them look extremely irritated, some of them look confused, others watch our every move with wonderment.

Meg elbows me in the side. "_Say something!" _She urges in the loudest whisper that she dare use.

I give her the eye, not wanting to say anything back, making it clear we were talking about them.

"Er…"

A particularly impatient looking girl of about 12 or 13 sighs. "Well? Are you incapable of speech or something?" She huffs, shaking her amber waves behind her shoulders. Her gray eyes are cold, defiant-looking even. A girl with dark brown hair and a smattering of freckles, steps forward- her head cocked and her arms crossed. She approaches Meg and I immediately, boldly, and as she gets closer, I can see that her eyes have the milky, pearly glaze of someone that is blind. She is so close, I wonder how she is not unnerved, at all. Then, she does about the strangest thing anyone can do- begins to feel my face.

I know she can't see, but what good can feeling my face do, if she's never seen me before?

"Strong cheekbones…pouty lips…" She pauses to gingerly run her middle fingers from my temples to the base of my chin. "Mm-hmm…Heart-shaped face, long, wavy hair," which she runs her fingers through, next. She moves onto Meg, announcing her strong shoulders, medium length hair, and the high cheekbones. She smiles, blankly, and wheels around, as though trying to find someone. Instead… "Thalia!" Her voices echoes off of the cliff with such alarming volume, that I'm startled for a moment.

"You do know who they are, right?" Meg asks me as a slight girl with choppy, ink-black hair emerges from one of the tents.

I shake my head no.

The girl wheels around, and her piercing blue eyes nearly knock the wind out of me. "No…They're not…"

"Yup."

A beautiful woman emerges from the center tent, as well. Her long auburn hair flows easily waist, a silver circlet braided to the crown of her head. She is tall and perfectly proportioned, her body looks almost like it was sculpted. Her jaw is set and firm, and her eyes….her _eyes! _They were silver, no…yellow. Wait, if she would just stop _moving!_

The blind girl flocks to the woman, and tugs gently on her hand. "It is them! The girls that I _saw…_"

Whoa, whoa… _Saw?_

The first thought to pop into my head is that these girls must be some sort of crazy stalkers, but then the irony of what the girl says seeps into my frazzled brain.

How could a blind girl _see?_

The woman steps forward, examining us closely. Her eyes linger on me, as they shimmer from silver, to a slightly darker version of corn silk, and then back to that pale, icy silver. Her neckline plunges slightly, and it is draped. There is a silver woven rope that hangs loosely across her hips, and the rest of the dress cascades to the floor, like a shimmering, iridescent, baby blue waterfall. A very small train is poised elegantly behind her. She looks like royalty…

Thalia steps forward. "How _dare _you gawk at Lady Artemis like that?" She spats at me.

"Lady." She called her "Lady…" Maybe she is like a royal.

That's my first thought when I met the goddess, Artemis.


	23. Like Mother, Like Daughter

The Shadow of the Moon

A Daughter of the Moon Trilogy Novel

Book 1

Chapter 23: Like Mother, like Daughter

I stared at her. She stared at me. I couldn't think of anything to say to Thalia that wasn't slightly obscene. "It's fine, Thalia." Artemis' voice was clear and light, like the chimes of a silver bell, but it sounded worn, as well.

The blind girl stepped forward. "It's them! I'd know them anywhere," her steely voice sliced through my subconscious, and chilled me to the bone. It was kind of freaky to have a blind girl claiming she saw me.

"I hope you won't think me rude, but what do you mean you _'saw me'?" _

_Now, _it was getting kind of freaky.

She just smiled. "I'm Acacia," she extended her left hand into the empty air.

"Hi…I'm Shailene." I reached out to take her hand, which was awkward for me, since I'm a righty."

She smiled, still as her grip hardened around my hand. I curled my hand to fit hers a little more comfortably, but it didn't work out so well. We let go simultaneously, and she extended her hand to Meg, as well, who was also trying to maneuver her left hand with as much grace as Acacia. She stepped back. "Are you two half-bloods?" She chirped in her strange voice.

"Yep," I answered.

"Who's your parent?" She turned to Meg.

"Hermes." She answered, lifting her chin a little.

"What about you?"

"Me?" The question took my by surprise. "I…don't know, yet, honestly."

"She's undetermined." Meg said, smirking at me.

"Yeah…undetermined. I meant that," I gave Meg a snippy look, jokingly.

She smiled back.

"And I'm a Seer."

I raised an eyebrow. "Sorry?"

"You asked what I meant by 'saw you'… I'm a Seer. I can see the future through visions," she answered.

"Oh…like Tiresias…" Meg said at once, having an epiphany.

"Yes…" Thalia said slowly.

Meg glared at, suddenly fully awake, an eyebrow poised near her hairline.

Acacia laughed. "If I had a drachma for every time I heard _that _one."

I laughed, too.

I saw Artemis give a fleeting smile. Her teeth were so white that if she'd smiled for much longer, Acacia could have gotten her eyesight _back…_

Acacia turned to me, the smile fading from her pretty face. "I saw you two coming. You were going to try and pretend to be Huntresses. Meg and I paled at that last part.

Artemis smirked. "Busted…" she said lightly, walking away.

I chased after her. "Lady Artemis, I…I'm so sorry! We just, we…oh never mind…Look we're really sorry-" I was interrupted by her light tinkling laughter.

"Do you still plan on doing it?" She asked me.

"No! No, I-I actually forgot all about it up 'til now."

"I believe you."

"You do?"

She nodded.

"Will you come sit by the campfire with me? Bring Megara, too."

But Meg had already heard and was rushing over. There was a feast displayed before our eyes on a long table with a silver tablecloth.

"Serve yourselves. You both look like you haven't seen a decent meal in weeks." She pinched some skin from Meg's arm, and thumped her on the back of her head. "You, too," she commanded. I didn't' try and be modest about it. There was no point in lying to a goddess. Besides, I was starving."

There were homemade mashed potatoes, corn, turkey, venison-which I personally abstained from. I took a slice of bread and set it on my plate too. I sat down cross-legged on the floor. Artemis sat on a bear pelt rug next to me. Don't be ridiculous." She summoned the gravy fro the table and poured a generous amount over my turkey and mashed potatoes. "Butter?" It hovered in midair. "No, thank you." "What about you, Meg?" Meg swallowed the food in her mouth. "Bring it on, Lady A! I'm starved!" Artemis released it with a smile, and it landed neatly beside Meg who spread it across her bread.

"I want to thank you girls for coming. We don't have many visitors. We sort of live in isolation. We have the comfort of each other, but it's nice to see some new faces, too." Artemis said softly.

I nod. "I understand that."

"Good. So how's camp going? What kind of combat are you involved in?"

"I tried out sword fighting, but I'm not very good. I'm a decent archer, I think…"

She laughed melodiously. "What do you mean 'you think?'"

I sighed. "Well, I sort of almost split Mr. D. right out of his spandex…"

She burst laughing, then covered her mouth with her palm. "Did you, really?"

I nodded. "Scariest moment of my life."

"He's a big softie, really."

At first, I thought she meant _physically…_

"Really?"

"What? He doesn't seem the type…?"

"Ha!"

She smiled, her teeth glinting in the now-moonlight.

"So, about that archery…Why don't you show me what you've got?"

"I don't have a bow…"

She pulled one out of thin air. It gleamed. "I'm the goddess of the Hunt…I'm always prepared." She handed it over to me. The arched silver was lined with a single line of sapphires. The string was so flexible. It was really quite…beautiful, actually.

"What should I aim at?"

Artemis tapped a nail to her chin. She stood up, quickly, like a pillar of blue stardust, and floated over to the table. She placed a pig that had an apple stuffed in its mouth, a cornucopia, and a plate stacked full of ambrosia squares. She placed them on a large table that was about a block away from me.

"Fire away!" She challenged. At this point, the other Huntresses gathered around. First I aimed at the ambrosia squares all the way to the right. I pierced through the bottom, middle one, and swiped it cleanly out of it's place, the rest of the pyramid remained intact.

Miraculously, I felt something forming in my hand. Another silver arrow, identical to the one I'd just shot, materialized right in my hand.

I looked to Artemis, who gave me the right away to get on with it.

So I did.

Next, I aimed at the pig. I held the arrow up to my mouth, and released it, sending it speeding through the air. It rammed through the apple, leaving the rest of the pig undisturbed.

As another arrow solidified, I prepared for the big finale. I aimed for the tail of the cornucopia. I let the arrow fly. It whizzed through my target, and hit a target that was set up about another block's length away. The arrow pinned the cornucopia right to the bulls eye. It made the cornucopia spin, releasing all of the fruit, neatly stacked on top of each other.

I smiled as I lowered the bow. A few of the Huntresses were staring at me, now- mouths agape. I looked to Artemis, who seemed to be clearly displaying her approval.

"Shay…" I heard Meg murmur. She pointed above my head. Confused, I looked up.

Revolving slowly, above my head, was…I don't really know _what _it was. It looked solid an real, but in another light, I felt like my hand would pass right through it. It was a silver crescent moon, with a silver arrow, cutting through it horizontally. I stared at it, then back to Meg.

"I thought that was impossible…" she muttered.

"What? What does that mean?"

I turned around, and Artemis was standing directly behind me. "You may have your father's eyes…but other than that, you're all me." She smiled softly, the moonlight illuminating her silver circlet. It resembled a halo more than anything else. I couldn't think of anything to say. She took another step closer to me, and spread her arms, tentatively. "I'm so glad I finally got to meet you." I stepped into my mother's arms- a _goddess's arms- _and stayed there for a while, finally feeling like I had a real family, instead of my broken one at home.

I looked over my mother's shoulder. A few of the Huntresses looked at me with admiration shining in their eyes, but most of them, with anger, or even hatred.

"You lied to us, all." Thalia choked the words out. "Do you realize what fools this make _us _look like, my Lady?" She was trembling.

Artemis spun around, her face hard, and stony. "I _kept my pledge!" _She spat. "Will you give me a chance to explain myself?"

The harshness in Thalia's eyes dissipated.

"It's possible for a virgin goddess to have children…Athena, Hera Hestia. They are virgins, too. It's possible to conceive a child in another way…" Artemis may have had the attention of a full audience, but her eyes never left Thalia. "I bonded with her father in a way I can't explain. I didn't exactly _fall in love, _per say, but there was very strong, mutual feelings there. I couldn't control it. He was a good guy. He was smart, he was funny…Things happen!

_That's _how Shailene came to be… I am still a virgin. I am loyal to all of you. Why would I give up this life I love so much and a solemn vow, I swore never to break? I treasure being a role model to all of you girls, especially the ones who come from nothing. I know the feeling! All of my brothers and sister, and aunts, and uncles except for one or two are probably better known than I am. That's why I opted for this, you know. No one made me do it. Do I make myself clear?"

All of the Huntresses nodded, even Thalia.

"What is to become of _her _then?" Asked a lanky girl with a sleek blond bob. "Is she to join us?"

Artemis turned back to me. "That is up to her."

I stared at all of the expectant faces, and then at my mother's calm and collected one. I saw the resemblance now that I had failed to pick up on before. The strong, but not obnoxious cheekbones, the long, fluttery eyelashes, the even straight teeth, the tapered chin, everything.

"I…I don't know. I don't want to leave now, but… I can't leave my dad forever. I love him, too." Artemis nodded with a smile. "That is what I expected of you. You do not have to drop your whole life for me. You can visit and be a part-time Huntress whenever you want." She smiled at me, and then lowered her voice, and she spoke directly to me. "And if that beast of a woman mistreats your dad, or that poor little girl again, you let me know straight away," my mother's eyes intensified. "I'd have no problem setting some wild animals on her trail…"

"Gods," said Meg who was the only one standing close enough to hear. "the resemblance is freaking _scary!" _

I smiled at my mom, who pulled me in for one last hug. "You and Meg are welcome to stay the night. In the morning, I'll summon a free ride to camp for you. Are either of you afraid of heights?" She asked with an arched brow.

Meg and I changed into our pajamas, and went to gather back around the campfire as the powwow came to a close. The Huntresses were dancing to a pulsing drum beat around the fire, while Artemis sat and watched, the firelight dancing in her chameleon eyes, and she drank from her wine goblet.

"Come on!" I grabbed Meg's hand and pulled her toward the fire. Two of the Huntresses brought forward silver cloaks- one for Meg, and one for me. We twirled and danced with the other Huntresses. I watched as my mother laughed, her face bright and content. We only lasted a few more songs. Meg and I had danced so loquaciously, we tired ourselves out easily, after that. We collapsed on the duvet on the floor of our tent. I fluffed the down pillows, and piled them plentifully on the ground. I pulled a second duvet up to my chin, and plopped right in the middle of all of the pillows, my body making a firm indent in the cushions. I yawned a goodnight to Meg, and passed out, cozier than I'd been in a long time.

**(**

When the sun soaked up the last of the rosy rays of dawn, my mother woke Meg and I up, personally. We got dressed, quickly, and my mother came with gifts for us. First, she presented Meg with her gift- a celestial bronze dagger with a silver hilt that was encrusted with tiny sapphires that formed the same crest that had shimmered above my head, not twelve hours ago. It was wrapped in the cloak.

Mine was also wrapped in the cloak- which we both got to keep as well, by the way- and it was a sapphire pendant. The sapphire was shaped like a moon. It was surrounded by a thin lining of silver, and then displayed on a silver chain. "It changes color when monsters are nearby, and when they're going to attack. Plus it turns into the bow you used last night. The arrow will always return to you. If you want it to be abow again, all you have to do is say a quick prayer to me. I'm forcing you to stay in touch," she smiled. Now, turn around, let's put it on…" my mother said. I did as I was told, my mother's warm hands grazing my neck. She spun me around by the shoulder and smiled.

"_Very _pretty," she said.

I wrapped my arms around her thin, but muscular body, and gave her a good squeeze. "Just so you know, I plan on punishing that boy for what he did to you. Some day…I just haven't thought it up yet." She said.

Ryan.

My stomach must have dropped forty feet.

"Oh! And that other boy, the one with the _blue _eyes…? Don't you worry about him, Shailene. He'll be waiting for you when you get back to camp, safe and sound."

I let out a cry of relief as I squeezed my mother with renewed joy.

"he cares about you, Shay…Hold onto that one," she pulled back and winked at me.

"Wait…don't you want me to be a virgin, like you?"

My mother shrugged. "That's not up to me. Besides, just because love didn't work out for me, doesn't mean it won't ever work out for _you…"_

I smiled.

"Hurry up! The invaders will be at Half-Blood Hill at dawn. You have one day. Make the most of it."

I hurried to meet up with Meg on the other side of the tents, where two pure white Pegasi stood. I smiled and patted the one closest to me in-between it's ears.

_Holy similar! Mini-Artemis! _it neighed.

"Um…" I turned around to my mother. "You can communicate with them, too." She smiled.

We mounted and took off of the cliff's edge, and looped back around to the east.

"Good luck!" My mother called to me fro the ground. I turned back to wave, but she vanished. A sea of forest, hurdling by replaced her beneath the wings of my Pegasus.


	24. I Become A Legitimate Horse Whisperer

The Shadow of the Moon

A Daughter of the Moon Trilogy Novel

Book 1

Chapter 24: I Become A Legitimate Horse Whisperer

I'd never been on a Pegasus, before…not even at camp. Riding one now, over the prairies, I realized how much I actually enjoyed it. Their gait was smooth and even, despite the fact that they had nothing to support their massive bodies from beneath them. I saw they're legs moving, and my face was cooled by the constant motion of their wings, but somehow, I could not determine if they were running or flying, and if it was both, how they have to move upward and forward at the same time.

I looked over at Meg, who's eyes looked like leaves set on fire around the edges from the rising sun we were flying toward.

"No hands!" She yelled as she pulled a Titanic pose. I laughed. "Try it!" She roared over the gust of eastern winds. I nodded, and pulled my arms out to the sides. I took it a step further, and laid back, parallel to the Pegasus' back. It looked like I was rising into the sky, towards the clouds. Something wet spread across my right hand. I pulled it back, disgusted, but I realized my hand had rammed through a small, low cloud. Water droplets clung to my skin, and wobbled like little platters of Jell-O.

Meg was doing the same thing. "Holy crap! This is awesome!"

I sat back up, a little afraid that if I stayed there much longer, I'd fall. "Hey, Meg, I'll race you!" I urged my Pegasus forward with my heels. "'Ay easy on the merchandise," she said so loud, my brain started pulsing, but she did so anyway, and raced ahead of Meg's Pegasus. Meg directed her toward the ground, which naturally made it go faster. I asked mine to do the same, and she did, but she sprinted, almost abandoning her wings.

We raced until I yelled out "Look! There's Long Island!"

"Woooohooo!"

We both plummeted toward the ground with such speed, I thought we'd catch fire. The Pegasi flew so low, their hooves skimmed the glittering water that looked like nectar in the morning light. It shredded around our Pegasi gracefully, somehow. Suddenly, the hooked a left, and we flew across the strawberry fields that led to Half-Blood Hill. The Pegasi landed with ease. I gave them a few strawberries to each of them.

_It's all I have, sorry. _

"It's fine," Meg's whinnied back to me.

Mine tossed her head in agreement.

_Thanks, guys!_

"Anytime!" They yelled back as they climbed into the sky.

Meg and I raced up the hill, knocking over a few satyrs. "Sorry!" "My apologies!" "Are you okay?" "and "Look out's!" that were far too delayed, being yelled by us.

We sprinted to the bottom of the hill, and rushed through the Big House's doors.

Mr. D. looked alarmed, as he looked up at us from his Diet Coke. "What?"

"Where's Chiron?" We screeched.

"At the Pavilion, it's breakfast time…"

We were already out the door.

The Pavilion was packed, as always. Meg and I took the steps two at a time, and ran right up to Chiron. An enormous smile lit up his face. "Meg! Shailene!" He walked toward us, already talking about what we missed. We yelled over him, desperate to make him hear us.

"THERE'S AN INVASION!"

The whole Pavilion fell silent at Meg's words.

"What?" Chiron asked, patiently.

"Someone's planning an attack on the camp, tomorrow at dawn! My mom told me!" I threw in for good measure. Never argue with a goddess, particularly one that could kick your ass, like _my _mom.

"Your mother visited you? Who is she?"

"Artemis."

Gasps erupted from the other campers.

He shook his head. "I can't believe I didn't see it before. You look just like her."

I nodded. "She mentioned that," I said with a small smile. I felt my hand go to the pendant I was wearing.

Chiron returned to the center of the Pavilion. He stomped his hoof loudly for everyone's attention. "After breakfast, you will all report to the arena of your choice: Swords, or the ranges. We must prepare ourselves. Go to the armory and get your measurements taken if you need new armor, or don't have any to fit you already. Shailene is in charge of the ranges, along with Penelope. Meg will be one of the leaders at the sword arena. Now, go."

Most of the camp doesn't even wait to finish their breakfast. They scurried off, a large amount of them to the swords arena. A decent amount went to the ranges, which surprised me pleasantly.

I turned to run, but Chiron's voice caught me.

"Yes?"

"You and Meg should go to the infirmary first," he said.

Staring blankly at each other, we both turn toward the Big House, and go through the back door to avoid Dionysus, again. We slip up the staircase and follow it up, up to the top floor. I knock on the door, and one of the healers opens it to us.

Lying on the bed farthest from the door, is Alex, all in one piece, but looking extremely tired.

We both rush over to him. He outs his right arm around Meg, and his left arm around me, which was awkward because of the sling, but comforting just the same.

"Are you okay?" I ask, stepping back to observe what's bandaged. There's a cut on his temple that seems very minor, and his left arm is in a sling. He also has ice underneath his swollen ankle. Meg steps back too, to look.

I notice when Meg moves away there's also an ugly bruise on his neck.

"Did Ryan do this to you?" Tears crept into Meg's eyes.

He nodded. "I'm okay," he responded to the look of terror on her face.

"How did you escape?" I asked, anxiously.

He recalled his story to us, about how the twins from the plane had lived, and that they were being brainwashed by Ryan. When Ryan didn't come back for almost two days, the twins slipped out of it and helped him escape.

"Wow," Meg breathed.

He nodded, his head hung down, not looking at us. "Christa lived too."

Meg and I stared at each other. "WHAT?"

He nodded, still not looking at us.

I smiled. "Why aren't you happy?"

"I am," he said unconvincingly.

"But-" I started.

"Meg, is it okay if I talk to Shailene alone for a few minutes?" He still wasn't looking at me.

She nodded, and slipped through the doors onto the wraparound deck.

"Alright, what's wrong?" I demanded.

"We broke up."

"Why?"

"I found out." he said simply.

I froze. Oh gods.

"I also found out that _you _found out."

My heart plummeted through all three floors and landed in the fireplace.

"I'm sorry. I'm _so, so _sorry…"

He shook his head. "I thought I could trust you."

"I didn't think you would believe me."

"Why wouldn't I believe you?"

"Because it would make me look like I was trying to get revenge on Christa, _that's _why! If I came up to you with no proof at all, _why _would you believe me?"

He sighed, his shoulder collapsing on the rest of his body.

"Is this why you asked Chiron to send me here? So you could lecture me?"

"No…"

"Because you weren't much help to us, when Ryan attacked us, either…"

He sat up straighter. "What did he do to you?"

"He didn't get very far, it's not a big deal," I recoiled. I hadn't planned on letting him know that.

He picked up a plate of ambrosia squares from his bedside table. "What did he do to you?" He asked, offering me the plate.

"No, thank you…"

"Shay, please tell me what he did."

"It doesn't matter. I'm fine. It's over. Let it go."

He went to grab my hands, but he missed, grabbing my wrists. He noticed when I flinched. He turned them over and saw the bruises there from where Ryan had grabbed me.

I pulled away from him, cursing the muscles that had twitched when all he did was hold them.

"You don't have to tell me now, but will you tell me later?" He coaxed.

"He kissed me. That's it."

"Then how'd you get those bruises?"

"He pinned me down."

"Are you sure you're okay?"

I nodded, laughing from relief that he was preparing to let it drop. "Yes!"

He let me go, and sat back down on the bed. It gave a small whine, but he laid back down and stretched across it. "I don't believe you," he said quietly.

"Doesn't matter. That's the truth."

"Can we call it even, then?" He sighed.

"Like a truce?"

He smiled. "Yeah."

"So you're surrendering?"

"No. It's strictly temporary."

"Right…"

He rolled his eyes at me, playfully.

"I have to go…They need me down at the ranges, and I still have to go to the armory…Oh crap. I really gotta go." I laughed. "See you later."

"Yeah. See you."

I bolted towards the armory. Once I was there, a Hephaestus girl took my measurement right away. She didn't say much, but by the way she was stealing glances at me, I knew the shock from this morning's announcement was still not settling in to everybody. It was barely settling in to my own brain, let alone anyone else's…

She said goodbye, and I sprinted to the ranges. I didn't know what to pray for, so I just asked my mom to watch over me in battle. As a response, the necklace morphed into the same silver bow.

I greet Penelope with a quick nod, and then get to work. Penelope is one of Aphrodite's daughters. She has glossy, dark hair that is sleeked back into a ponytail. Her shimmering navy blue eyes are huge, giving her a doe-like appearance that is pretty, instead of freakish. She's wearing cream colored eye shadow and a flirty coral lipstick I could never dream of pulling off. For an Aphrodite girl, she's not afraid to get her hands dirty. She was assigned lead the archers as well. She's my age, and only a little shorter than me.

I reach a daughter of Athena I don't recognize, but volunteer to help her anyway. I watch her first shot, and it's pretty good- maybe only a few inches away from the target. "Turn the hand that's holding the arrow to the right, more." She does this, and her next shot is much more effective.

I move down the line, and stop behind a son of Apollo. Bulls eye. "Good job," I say, and move on. There's a girl that looks vaguely familiar to me, but I don't know her name. She has raven black hair, and mint green eyes that remind me of sea foam. My brain finally places her as the girl from the plane.

Her eyes widen when she sees me.

I have a feeling she remembers me, too.

I smile. "What's your name? I don't remember you."

She mumbles something I can't hear for the life of me.

"Circe?"

"_CeCe…" _She says enunciating.

"Oh, sorry. Are you new?"

She nods, and strings an arrow.

"You'll like it here…"

"What if I don't?"

I raise an eyebrow. When I see that she's serious I shrug. "Then that's up to you."

She nods, and shoots the arrow. It missed the bulls eye by… well, a lot.

I stand behind her. "Position yourself, like you're going to shoot, but don't release the arrow."

She does this.

"Lift you elbow up…no the other one, the one holding the arrow. 'Kay, now stretch this arm out straight in front of you." I tap the arm I want her to extend. "Keep your elbow bent though. You don't want to strain your arm…" She follows all of my instructions. "This is going to sound dumb, but stand up straight. This way your muscles are flexed and they won't flop when you slouch…Good. Now fire."

It makes a drastic improvement, but it's still off by a little bit.

"Keep practicing. If you need help, I'm Shailene."

She nods quietly, not making a sound as I walk away.

Chiron is galloping through the valley with a clip board, trying to find people to sign up for border patrol shifts. Penelope and I both sign up.

Behind me, I hear "Can you pass the pen?"

I turn around, and see Christa standing in front of me with a small, sad smile on her face, as she, too signs her name with the ballpoint pen.


	25. Reunion

The Shadow of the Moon

A Daughter of the Moon Trilogy Novel

Book 1

Chapter 25: Reunion

That night, dinner at the Pavilion was sort of…grim. For one thing, I was totally y myself at dinner, but since the cabin 8 (Artemis) table was next to cabin 9 (Apollo) table, I talked to Alex pretty much all through dinner.

He had been set good to go. His ankle looked like it stopped the swelling… a LOT.

It was good to see him when he wasn't totally destroyed. The cut on his temple was sewn and taped. It was so small, it only needed a few stitches. His ankle was fine, but his arm was still wrapped and propped. He was sipping nectar from his goblet, trying to help it further.

"You better be careful tomorrow." He said, quietly.

"You better not try and be a big shot and fight with your arm in a sling…"

"I won't."

"Good."

"'Cause it's coming off tomorrow."

I glared at him, which made him smile. "You're joking."

"No."

"Yes."

"No."

I rolled my eyes, and stand up from the table to put my dishes on the table, now that I'm done with my food. He gets up, too, following. "Are you offering a truce?" He whispers in my ear. I turn around and hit him. He laughs, which only annoys me further.

"Hey!"

I turn around, smiling. "What _now?" _

"Wanna go down to the beach?"

"Now? It's almost dark."

"It could be the last chance we get," he says softly.

I nod, knowing he's right, unfortunately.

He takes my left hand and we walk down to the beach, taking our time. I kick at some pieces of gravel, and clumps of dirt, trying to find something to focus my attention on. I thought about Christa… I had to go ask about what happened. How she lived, where she was…

Part of me wondered why she'd been super nice to me. Maybe she'd just been happy to be alive, period.

"You okay?" I looked up and saw Alex staring right at me.

"Yeah…Just wondering about something."

"Okay."

I realized how grateful I was that he never pushed. We reached the end of the trail, and climbed the enormous rocks to our left, facing the ocean. I sit on them, and pull my arms to my chest. It takes him a while to get settled. I stand up to help him, but he refuses me. "I got it."

I sit back down, staring at the waves lap at the sand. He puts his arm around me, and I lean into him, finally feeling less awkward around him than before. I finally didn't feel guilty for getting comfortable. First, I felt weird about it because he was taken. Then, I felt bad for the guy because he lost his girlfriend. And now, even though she was alive, I wondered if he was moving on too soon…He didn't seem to mind, so I decided I shouldn't either.

I laid my head on his shoulder, and felt his head rest on top of mine. He stroked my hair gently, and almost lulled me to sleep. For some reason, I loved when people played with my hair. When I was little, my dad's girlfriend at the time, Pamela, used to braid my hair, and then unbraid it…and then braid it again. After she finished, she would twist my hair into a ponytail, and let it fall on my back. I guess that's why.

The sun was blazing like a ruby set on fire in front of us. I leaned back, and laid down, staring at the sky directly above me. The pastel yellow faded into a soft turquoise, which eventually met the blue that would become a deep navy in less than an hour. Alex stroked my hand, and reclined, as well. He laughed. "What are you looking at? There's no clouds, and it's too early for the stars, yet."

"I know, for some reason, it just calms me." I laughed, drawing Alex's attention.

"What?"

"I remember when I was little, I used to believe that God lived in Heaven, in the sky…Now I know some of them live in the Empire State Building."

"Same thing," he said sarcastically.

He rubs my arm, slowly and softly. "Are you worried about tomorrow?"

"No, I'm just responsible for about 1/6 of the campers here, but that rolls right off of my shoulders," I scoff.

"Alright, alright. Fair enough." He smiled at me.

"What kind of weapon do you use?"

"Whatever I feel like."

"Well, what are you best at?"

"Probably a sword," he smiled, touching his dog tags, which hung faithfully from his neck.

"Yeah, I should have guessed that," I said, remembering that he always wore them.

"Maybe you should have."

I hit him lightly.

He gives me a tiny shove back, that barely moves me.

I kick his foot, with mine, and he kicks back.

My butt begins to go numb, so I roll onto my side, no longer facing him. What the hell am I going to do tomorrow? I have no idea how to lead a group of people like that. Just because I'm Artemis' daughter…

Alex props himself up his arm, leaning over me to catch a glimpse of my expression. His hand rests on my hip, and suddenly, reaches for the hem of my T-shirt, and before I can stop him, he yanks it up, over my side, revealing the bruise from Ryan. I jerk upward, pushing him away.

"What are you _doing?" _

"I told you I'd find out what that jerk did to you."

"But, how did you…?

"Meg," he answered me simply and swiftly, like he already knew what I was going to ask him. I groan, feeling myself flush. _I should have known…_

"He's not making it out of here alive tomorrow," he said, in a calm voice that sent shivers rippling down my back.

"What makes you think he's showing up?"

"I'd bet anything he was planning this all along. You didn't notice that he was acting strangely?"

"No, I honestly didn't."

His teeth were gritted so tightly, I swear I heard his jaw crack.

"He's a total pervert." He said, his voice dripping with hatred.

"We went over this…"

"You didn't…do anything more than kiss, right?"

I shook my head.

"Promise?"

"Yes," I sighed, sitting up, and leaning on the back part of the rocks that rose up higher still. He scoots a little closer to me, sighing. He put his arm around me again, and at first I barely notice. The sun has gone down and the first signs of the stars peeping through the sky, like little children peeping under their trees tentatively on Christmas morning. The same thing applies for me- you always know what will be there, but you can't help but feel a strong appreciation, even for the predictable.

"How much do you know about constellations?" I ask, wondering out loud.

He shrugs. "A bit, I guess. When I was younger, my dad used to teach me when we drove the sun- long story," he throws in quickly because of the look on my face. "-Anyway as we drove past all the constellations, and he told me a few stories."

"What do you remember?"

He told me the quick stories of Cancer the crab, which was ridiculously short, the story of Aries, which was so unrealistic, even for mythology. He finally told me the story of Orion - at my request - which included my mother. It was so sad that it broke my heart. Orion fell in love with my mother. She began to neglect her duty of guiding the moon across the sky. Apollo convinced Gaia that they were getting _too _close, so she sent Scorpius the scorpion after him. They battled, and in the end, they both died. Scorpius and Orion were placed in the sky during different seasons so they could not fight. One in the winter, one in the summer.

"Orion's visible in the summer, right?"

Alex looked at me, brow crinkled. "No, the winter."

"But I saw him, a few nights ago."

He shook his head. "That's not possible. Maybe you were hallucinating from the poison…"

I shook my head, trying to clear my mind. "Maybe…"

"His story's so sad," I whispered.

Alex remained motionless.

"I know Apollo's your father, I'm not trying to insult him."

"I know. He didn't do anything wrong."

"Well…"

"He was protecting her."

I sighed, not resisting him. _Gods, _he was even more stubborn then I was…

I felt his muscles relax. He started telling stories again. Next was Perseus, who was followed by Andromeda. "Her mother used to brag that she was the most beautiful being alive- even prettier than the Nereids. This pissed Poseidon off, royally, and he chained Andromeda to a rock, and set a sea monster on her. Perseus killed the monster, and made Andromeda his wife, and they lived happily ever after. When she died, Athena honored her by making her a constellation. She's next to her husband."

"Aw…"

He smiled, "Yeah. She's not visible now. She's visible in the fall- right around your birthday." My birthday was in November. He leaned closer to me. "I bet she didn't have anything on you," he whispered.

I leaned into, his shoulder, again. His hand snaked its way down my back, and pulled me closer to him. I sat up, and went to look into his eyes, but they were closed. Before I knew what was going on, his lips were on mine, his hand playing with my hair, softly. I wrapped my arms around his neck, and sat up straighter, my legs bent off to the side. He got on his knees, and guided my body up to meet his. He continued to kiss me, and something about it felt so…right. My hands found the nape of his heck, and starting playing with the wisps of hair that were laying there messily. He pulled away for a second, and ripped the sling off of his arm.

He dove right back in, running his newly freed hand along my back. I grabbed handfuls of his shirt, and tried to pull him closer to me. He put his hands on my sides, keeping us at a respectable distance, but still close to one another. He drew back quietly, and kissed my forehead, my right cheek, then my left, and then, the tip of my nose. I fluttered my eyelashes against his neck playfully.

His lips found their way to mine quickly again, and kissed me a few times, softly and briefly, before pulling away. His silhouette was framed with moonlight, and I saw a silvery glint in his eyes that took my breath away. He smiled at me, before pulling me close, again. He leaned on top of me, my back reclined, my hair almost brushing my feet. I looped my arms around his neck, paying careful attention not to fall and smack my head on the rock. _That _would kill the moment…

He pulled away slowly, and then leaned forward again. "Don't worry, I've got you." His breath was so close to my ear, it tingled. I went to kiss him again, but my lips missed, brushing his soft cheek. He brushed a piece of flyaway hair that was strewn across my eyes, and tucked it behind my ear. He picked me up, like I was a feather, and set me back down again, in his lap. He wrapped his arms around me, and I let myself melt into him, no longer resisting like I was trying to play it cool- or at least somewhat. He placed his finger beneath my chin and pulled me toward him, starting up again with another set of kisses. I breathed into his neck, the warmth reverberating back onto my cool face. He continued to stroke my back, and I suddenly realized that a moment would come when it would be over. He kissed me over and over again and with each kiss, I found the idea of ever letting go of him more and more dreadful.


	26. The Calm Before The Storm

The Shadow of the Moon

A Daughter of the Moon Trilogy Novel

Book 1

Chapter 26: The Calm Before The Storm

Alex walked me back to my cabin, after I helped him put his sling back on. The Artemis cabin was glowing brightly, a silver hue encompassing it entirely. He kissed me quickly before returning to his own cabin. I flicked the lights on and screamed.

"Nice to see you, too," Meg smirked. She was sitting on a top bunk against the left wall with a bowl of popcorn, two cans of Pepsi, and a container of seasoning. "Are you cool with white cheddar?" She asked, holding the container.

I nod, which results in her sprinkling the powder generously over the popcorn. "What are you doing here, anyway?"

"I feel bad-you're all by yourself in here. Besides, don'tcha wanna break the new cabin the _right way?" _She raises an eyebrow at me. "Besides, I brought movies." She smiles, holding them up. There's a nice TV to the right of the door. I like it already. It isn't flashy, but it still has a sleek look to it. I smile at her, grateful I don't have to stare at the ceiling, or count to a hundred until I fall asleep tonight. She climbs down from her perch, losing a fuzzy green slipper. "Ugh!" She stuffs it back on, and plops down onto the bottom bunk of the same bed she'd been on before. I reach over a stuff a handful of popcorn in my mouth.

"Is this kettle corn?" I ask, recognizing the sweet taste beneath the notes of sour cheese.

She nods. "Yeah. Tastes good, right?"

"Mm-hmm." I dip my hand in for more, loving the sweet n' sour taste. I head for a small closet on the other side of the cabin and open it up. The shelves start about halfway up, and underneath them is a washing machine and drying machine. The shelves were full of silver, down sleeping bags, silver satin sheets, and blue and silver quilts. I take a quilt and a sleeping bag, and toss them to Meg. I also take two pillow cases that match the sheets, and slip them on the two pillows from the bunk closest to me. I throw those to Meg also.

I grab my backpack, which was resting on the bottom bunk of the bed closest to the closet.

"I'll be right back."

I head into the bathroom, which is on the same wall as the TV. The closet is placed nicely, on the back wall near the bathroom door. The walls are a pale, baby blue, and it has clean, crisp, white tiles that cover the floor. A counter with two sinks, a shower, and a toilet. It had some cosmetic brackets made out of curled metal. It looked like something that should belong in a French café. In-between the two brackets was a matching mirror. I dug into my backpack, and pulled out a snug NYU T-shirt, and a pair of plaid flannel pants. I threw my hair up into a messy bun, and went back outside.

"So what movies do you have?" I asked Meg.

"Mmm…'_The Hangover_'."

"Know it inside and out. It's a classic."

"_Bad Teacher?"_

"I haven't seen that one…"

"_Bounty Hunter…_"

"With Gerard Butler?"

"Yeah!"

"I love that movie. Give it here."

She tosses it to me, and I catch it. I swiftly out it into the DVD player, and click off the lights.

"Whoa…oh okay," Meg says as the blue light from the TV screen spreads across all three of the four walls of the cabin. "_You _turned the lights off…"

I nod, and start to move towards the bunk. "Yeah…"

She swats me on the arm, and I swat back.

"Watch the soda!" She cups a hand protectively around her open Pepsi can.

I pick up a pillow, and draw it back.

""_Watch. The soda!" _

I laugh, as I dig in for more popcorn.

I plop down on the bunk next to her.

"So?" She said, as the pesky coming attractions came on, which I flipped through hurriedly.

"So, what?"

"You were with Alex."

I didn't know what to say to that. I wasn't going to deny it, but at the same time, saying "yeah…?" would seem like I was hiding something, playing dumb. I chose silence instead.

She raised an eyebrow.

"What?" I laughed. "Yeah, I was with him."

"What did you _do…?" _She drawled out the last word.

"_Stuff…" _I put the same lilt in my words. I was just about to launch into what happened, when she let out an impatient huff. I didn't go into a ton of detail, but I told her that we had kissed.

"You _kissed?"_

I nodded slowly, with raised eyebrows, not blinking.

She rolled her eyes. "Why didn't you _tell me?" _

I shrugged. "I was gonna…"

"When?"

I stayed silent again. I didn't really know when.

"Get it, girl!" She clapped her hand onto my back.

I laughed. "It's not like _that…"_

"No kidding."

"Oh, look. The movie's starting." I pressed 'play' on the remote.

She gave me a look I ignored as I chugged a whole soda can to avoid her unnerving eyes. I spread out on the bunk, and laid my head down on the pillow. The cool satin didn't stick to my hair. It was nice to have a whole cabin to myself, but Meg was right, I would probably be lonely a lot of the time. I realized it was good, because I could do things my way, but still…

I sat up, and leaned into the back corner of the bunk, against the wall, and spread the quilt over my legs. I propped the pillow up behind my head. Meg did the same, but in the other corner of the bed. We both stretched our legs out in front of us. Meg buried herself under the covers, only her eyes showing. I don't even remember the second half of the movie. My eyelids became heavy, and I greedily, and lazily succumbed to the first decent sleep I was going to get since the summer started.

**(**

I woke up the next morning extremely early, especially for me. Some disturbed part in my body just knew it had to be up before the sun came up. It was an unusual feeling. Like right before the first day of school, you can't sleep no matter how much you want to because part of your brain doesn't care about school and stress, but the other half is blurting out that it's excited. Eventually, you fall asleep, at some disastrous hour of the night, and you wake up, feeling fully charged.

Same thing.

I padded into the bathroom, and looking around found no hair care products. I shuddered. I couldn't imagine what my hair would look like. I was friendly with some of the kids in the Hermes cabin from my time there. I think being Meg's best friend- who held a very feared, yet respected position at camp- may have something to do with that as well. I could go bug Violet, but I had a feeling she wasn't a morning person either.

A light bulb went off in my head. This would be the perfect chance to see Alex again. I pulled on Meg's Uggs, which she had clearly padded over in and threw on a hoodie. Meg was still asleep, purring softly, caressing her pillow with all of her might, and with what I knew was a deadly steel grip. I opened the door quietly, and set out in the misty morning. I pulled the hoodie around me, trying to block out the mist that daringly tried to impenetrate my clothes and chill me to the bone.

I knocked softly on the door of the Apollo cabin. A pretty girl with dirty blond hair and warm, brown eyes opened the door. Her hair was pulled back into a ponytail, and she was wide awake.

"Hi." I smiled. "Is Alex up yet?"

She nodded. "Yeah. Come on in."

I padded into the cabin. There were hardly any lights on, but the cabin was glowing warmly, unlike mine. I heard the door click behind me, which caused the person in front of me to turn around.

Found him.

He smiled. "Good morning." He put his arm around me, and pulled me to him, kissing the top of my head.

"Morning," I said sleepily.

He gestured to the mug in his hand. "Want some coffee?"

I shook my head. "No thanks." I was never a fan of coffee. I liked how it smelled, but I couldn't stand the taste.

He shrugged. "Okay."

"So, I was wondering…can I borrow some shampoo and conditioner? I never thought to bring my own…I never thought to bring _anything, _actually…"

He smiled. "Yeah, sure." He walked over to a door that was left ajar. I followed him.

"Thanks."

"Don't thank me. I'm saving myself, and the rest of the camp from your bed head."

I hit him on the arm, and leaned against the doorway, while he grabbed the shampoo and conditioner bottles. He was rummaging under the sink, now.

"Can't believe you're up this early." He said absently, as he poured a bit of each bottle into two smaller, travel-sized bottles.

"Me, neither."

He capped the first one, and tossed it to me. I dropped it out of surprise, causing him to laugh.

"Shut up," I grumbled.

He smiled, capped the second one, and tossed it to me. I snatched it out of the air with one hand. He stuck out his bottom lip, raised his eyebrows and nodded, looking impressed. It was really all luck, but the timing looked good.

He leaned against the counter in the bathroom, watching me, now. "Do you want to go sit somewhere?"

I raised an eyebrow. "I hope you don't mean outside…"

He waved a hand dismissively. "Nah. We could go hangout in the Big House. Sit by the fire, if you're cold."

I nodded. "Okay."

We walked outside, and scrambled up the hill to make it inside in time. He slowly opened the door, the creak echoing. I started to kneel by the fire, but he took my hand, and quietly shook his head 'no.'

I followed him up the stairs. One floor disappeared beneath our feet, and then two. On the third floor, he lead me into a room that was purely beige, and had a nice bay window with a window seat. It also had a fireplace and a huge bed. He brought me over to the fireplace, and sat down. I followed suit, wrapping the sweatshirt around my body even tighter.

"this is a guest bedroom. The parlor will be filled soon, so I figured this would be quieter."

I nodded in agreement.

He started up a small fire with a lighter that had been left on the mantle. It soon started to grow. He grabbed a fire poker and sat, stationed in front of the flames. I scooted over a little more, and he put his arm around me.

I rested my head on his chest, and wrapped my arms around him. They hung loosely around his waist. He stroked my hair, watching the flames dance. The orange reflection in his blue eyes looking like fire melting a breathtakingly beautiful, bright blue ice sculpture.

He set the fire poker down, and wrapped his other arm around me, too.

I breathed in the fabric softener from his faded t-shirt and sighed. There wasn't much to say, really. I knew what we were both thinking of.

"Please be careful today," I whispered so softly, I couldn't help but imagine if I'd actually said it.

He squeezed me tighter. "I will," he murmured softly, his lips grazing my hair.

I took another deep breath and sighed when I exhaled again. I was comfortable I didn't want to go put on my steely, cold armor. I just wanted to stay with him.

"What force are you fighting with?" I whispered, almost as soft as I did last time.

"Swords." He said, his voice gaining a steely edge.

I looked up at him, and realized that he wasn't looking back. He was staring into the flames.

I turned away from him, and looked at them too, watching the tallest ones try to consume each other, on the crest of the hill, no- logs. I closed my eyes and squeezed them hard. When I opened them, I could feel the beginning of tears. I batted them away, quickly.

"Even with your arm…?" I asked desperate for conversation now that the wheels in my head were turning, thinking of the worst.

He nodded, still hypnotized by the fire.

"You think you're going to be okay."

He shrugged, and I didn't like that. The uncertainty, or passiveness, he was trying to pull off. Something was bothering me.

"Hey."

"Yeah?" His faced barely moved, his eyes still fixed on the fire.

"You okay?"

"No."

I let go of him and sat up entirely, no longer leaning on him. His eyes clicked onto mine again.

"What?" he asked softly, as though truly surprised by something. Probably because I had pulled away…

"What's wrong?"

He smirked. "Come on. You already know."

I felt my cheeks heat up a little.

"You're doing that whole cutesy thing."

"What?" I stared at him, not expecting him to say that.

"You're getting ready to say goodbye."

I bit my lip. I was. Well, not _goodbye, _goodbye, but I did want to say _something _to him. For all I knew, something could happen to either one of us today. As much as I hoped and prayed that he'd walk back into that valley unscathed, I wasn't sure that would be enough.

"I…Look, I wasn't planning on saying goodbye, but…"

"Do yourself a favor, and just let it go," he said, shaking his head. I don't want to spend all morning thinking about it.

"How could you not?"

He shrugged. "I said I don't _want _to."

I nodded.

I curled back up next to him again. He put his arms around me, and I could feel the muscles in his arms tense up, and then relax, and then contract, and then relax again. I wrapped my arms around his neck, and nestled my head into the crook of his neck. His hands gently smoothed down my hair, and then he kissed my head again. He pulled me away, and kissed me softly. He ran his thumb along the corner of my jawbone, and then down the curved side of my neck repeatedly, not saying a word. I reached up and took his hand, holding it in mine. I turned it over, running my fingers along his palm softly.

"Don't sorry about me, Shay," he said reading my mind. "I'll be fine."

I nod, and clasp his hand in mine again.

He takes his free hand, and rests it on the back of my neck, guiding my face to meet his. He kisses me repeatedly, and stops suddenly, his face poised in front of mine, eyes closed. I stare at him wondering when he will open them again. He does soon after that, and scoops me up in his arms. He put me on the window seat, and lays down next to me, wedging me between the cool glass and his warm body.

He takes a section of my hair and twirls it around his fingers before brushing it away from my face. He traces my collarbone with his fingertips, and kisses it softly. He runs his fingers along the slant of the top of my shoulder, and then down to my elbow, then back up again. He does this repeatedly, as if he wouldn't rather be ding anything else. I lean in to kiss him again, and he whispers to me gently: "Take care of yourself today."

I nod, and grab his t-shirt and pull him closer. He slips one arm under my head, and another over me, his back to the door, and my back to the window.

His steady breathing lulls me to sleep. At least I think I'm sleeping, even though I somehow have the ability to think. My eyes flutter open, and I see that light has begun to seep into the room, through the tiny slit where the curtains meet. Alex sits up, suddenly, putting his weight on the hand that was placed over me, and pulls the curtains back. I roll over, shocked and blinded by the sudden light, but I'm nowhere near prepared for what's coming next. An alarm sounds, and with that alarm, I watch as the valley fills below me, with terror as the valley fills with swarming bodies, all glinting in the sunlight. I watch, frozen as all Hades break loose right before my own eyes.


	27. This Is Montauk!

The Shadow of the Moon

A Daughter of the Moon Trilogy Novel

Book 1

Chapter 27: This Is Montauk!

I abandon the shampoo and conditioner, and Alex ditches his coffee. He keeps a hand on my back, steering me around the twists and turns of the three two consecutive wraparound staircases that are position right in the center of the floor, and hug all four of the walls. We reach the parlor, and run for the backdoor. My legs are burning from the pressure I'm putting on them as I gun downhill towards the armory to prepare. Alex is right behind me, and pulls up right next to me.

I reach the valley, and I see Penelope headed off. "I'll be right there, I swear!" I yell over my shoulder in time to see her give a terse nod as she sprints for not the hill, but the woods to the right of it. The sword fighters are stationed on top of the hill, and the archers are headed for the woods…

I shake the thought, realizing I stopped dead in my tracks, and Alex is repeating my name over and over and tugging on my wrist. I turn and sprint, leaving him behind and catching him by surprise. Again, he catches up to me with ease.

I enter the armory, and am instantly smothered by the heat. A daughter of Hephaestus grabs me and pulls me into a cubicle, and hand me piece after piece. I'm wearing a sports bra and a royal blue under armor shirt. I throw on a pair of jeans Meg gave them for me, and a pair of riding boots she also let me borrow. She helps me strap the armor on, and then heads over to ready herself. She was the only other person there besides Alex and I. He emerged- perfectly assembled. I put my hair down, which resulted in an _oof _from Alex as he teases me about my hair again. I grab a handmade silver brush and run it through my hair, trying not to waste too much time. I braid it and pray to my mom real quick, grasping the pendant around my neck.

_Mom, please watch over me, Meg and Alex today…Help me prove myself to everybody else. More than anything, help all of us beat the other guys. Amen…?_

I didn't know if I should have thrown that last part in, but I did anyway. I turn around to face Alex, and I see a flash of golden light, and he's holding his sword. My own bow and quiver of arrows transformed as well, and for a while we just stare at each other.

I break the awkwardness, and rush at him, wrapping my arms around his neck. I feel his shoulder wobble, and I hear his breath catch on the intensity in the air. It sounds ragged, difficult. He cradles my face in his hands, and kisses me for a long time. He kisses my forehead, and then runs his hands down my arms and holds my hands. He brings them up, level with our chests and kisses them before putting them down and kissing my lips again.

"Be careful" he says just as I say "Good luck."

"'Kay."

"You too."

Again.

I smile, and hug him one last time before I force myself out the door as far as my legs would carry me. I forced myself up the hill and away from him. I didn't even want to think about what would happen if he got hurt. I also didn't want him to have to leave first, me left behind missing him already. I veered to the right, gripping my bow tightly in my clenched fist. My quiver's weight shifted around on my shoulders, and the shoulder blades it rested on vigorously pumped my arms, and forced my legs forward, I looked over my shoulder and found that Alex had reached the hill.

I plunged into the woods, and before long, heard the clinking of armor and battle cries. I spotted Penelope. Our eyes clicked, and then she darted off toward the front. I headed in the same direction, but managed to grab a few people around me.

"You two, go climb that tree, and find a spot where you have a clear shot at them! You three, take that tree. Amy, find something bigger to duck behind." A pair of frightened brown eyes looked up at me. Amy was twelve and almost as tall as me. She had porcelain skin, brown eyes with long eyelashes and shoulder length curly hair. She had a heart shaped face with high cheek bones, and ruby colored lips. She looked like Snow White in battle armor. She stayed frozen, looking around to see if it was safe, but I grabbed the daughter of Dionysus by the arm and pulled her up a little bit more. There was an enormous mound of boulders that with her long, flexible limbs, she could easily climb and shield herself with. I left her there, with one of Alex's brothers, and ran ahead. I climbed a tree myself, and let some arrows fly. I heard some squelching sounds from the hill and I shuddered hoping Alex and Meg weren't the source of them.

I stuck a large furry beast I couldn't distinguish whatsoever in the…neck? It was hard to tell if he even had one. He bellowed, as he sank to his knees and disintegrated. I heard footsteps marching, and I looked up and saw a bunch of… humans. Or demigods. Anyway, they weren't monsters like the creatures that were looming in front of us. I saw a few too many familiar faces. Bryce, his sister with her glossy black hair hanging limp around her face, and leading them all with an irritating smirk was Ryan.

I almost dropped out of the tree. One because of shock, and two because I'd been so preoccupied, I hadn't even noticed a dagger being hurled at my face until it was almost too late. I ducked, and staggered on my branch. I grabbed the branch above me to study myself, but I realized I was screwed. I was being shot at from four different angles. I hauled myself up, higher into the boughs of the tree. I positioned myself like I was doing to do chin-ups, but I planned on hoisting my whole body up. I had one foot planted securely on, and…

I nasty sound split through the air and a shot of pain worked its way up my leg. My left leg that had still been hanging down had gotten pummeled. The arrow had rammed into my calf. The arrow had a long crack going down the middle of it. I realized with a sickening horror that it most likely wasn't like that before. I grasped it and tried to pull it out. A pain ricocheted up m leg into my thigh. I almost fell out of the tree again. I jumped up on my right leg, and pulled myself up. I did the same thing, working my way up higher despite my leg's bitching.

I strung another arrow, and pulled my arm back. I hit my funny bone on something hard, but softer than a tree trunk. I turned around halfway, and got pinned down before I could do anything. Ryan was on top of me, an evil glint in what I once thought were gentle eyes. He put pressure on my wrists, and I gritted my teeth, while I made an effort to move. He had his legs wrapped around mine intricately, and for every part of my body, there was a part of his that matched it, confining me to the thick branch.

"Don't move. It'll only hurt your leg more…" and before I could register what he meant, he yanked the arrow out of my leg. I felt the scream escape my throat, but somehow I barely heard it.

He smiled, amused by my pain. "He escaped me before you know, but I have a fool proof way to get him back. I'm going to use you." He paused, enjoying the annoying dramatic effect. "She doesn't love him anymore. She never _loved _him. She deserves someone better."

"Someone like _you?" _I spat.

"Exactly."

A shudder crept up my spine as I remembered the icy tone in his voice. The same voice I'd heard in the tent that night. I thought about what Alex had said to me before he left that night:

"_Shay, stop it. You don't know that guy like I do. He's said things that have almost made me sick. About Meg…and you. Let me handle this."_

He had sort of warned me about him. I felt like I owed him now. My mind started racing like someone clicked 'rewind' on a remote control. My head went reeling back to the early morning in the tent when Alex saved me.

"God, you just won't _die _will you?" He screamed interrupting the dreamy haze that had overcome my thoughts.

"What the hell are you talking about?"

I realized, my whole left shoulder was off of the branch, and only my right hip anchored me in place. I saw that he was struggling to push me off.

"I crashed the damn plane! I possessed the pilot! You had to go be all _little-miss-heroine _and find stuff to jump with! Then I poison you and you still don't die! What the hell is wrong with you?" He slammed a hand down on my throat, and clenched it tightly. I held my breath, not wanting to waste it. My mind flashed back to the cold, industrial steel syringe I had stepped on that night. I'd kicked evidence downhill without a second thought.

"I'm sick of my brother showing me up all the time!" He squeezed tighter. "He's not winning Christa, too!"

"Bro-ther?" I gasped out, trying not to talk.

He sneered. "_Alex." _

Oh my god.

I tried to desperately pry his hand from my throat. I gave a strong tug, and got him to let go, but only for a second. It was all I needed to exhale my old breath and take in a fresh, new one. I had three more minutes, tops. Three minutes until I would die from lack of oxygen. There had to be something I could do. The battle was still raging on, but it was becoming more and more quiet. I heard a horrifying yell and saw Bryce drop to the floor. Amy had plunged his own knife into him when he wrestled her to the mossy floor. Amy pushed him off of her, grabbed her bow which lay just a little away from her, and kept fighting. The crowd was getting smaller and smaller. My lungs were about to burst. I latched my knee around the branch, and tried again, desperately, to pry Ryan off of me. I made no progress, whatsoever. A huge wind started to build up and hissed through the leaves in the branches.

Ryan laughed louder than he had to, making sure I could hear the triumph in his voice. He shifted his weight, leaving room for me to bend my leg.

Big mistake.

In that millisecond, I grabbed his hand and pulled my leg back to my chest, I rolled to my right and kicked him off. He tumbled through the air before I heard a sickening crack. Curiosity infuriated me after I saw what I saw. His neck was twisted on the ground, a stream of thick, dark blood running from the corner of his mouth. I cringed, and pulled myself onto my stomach, still balancing on that one branch. I slowly tucked my right leg underneath me, and sat up, observing the fight down below. The final creatures were being slaughtered, and ay last remaining opponents bolted off in the other direction, retreating because of the loss of their leader.

Bryce's twin gave me the eye before she left, walking eerily calm away, but not before grabbing a boy and spearing him right in front of me. That hiss sounded again, as I tried to stand on the branch. I wheeled around to find Lamia in front of me. She had snaked her way up the tree. The dazzling sunlight made her slightly green-tinted skin glisten like it was coated in dew, and her scaly tail glisten menacingly. She flashed a smile with her fangs poking out from her glossy lips, protruding like a flashing, neon _Danger! _sign. She held her eyes in her hands, when they forged into the single orb, all I could see was Alex leaning up against Thalia's pine tree, his eyes misty, and foggy. His right arm was drenched in blood, and his left hand was holding it still. His eyes were puffy and red, and he looked like he had been crying. He was almost completely horizontal to the floor, his head tilted only just so. Blood was spattered across his armor, and his eyelids were drooping and being pulled closer and closer together. The image was zooming out, and now all that I could see was his silhouette against the bright starburst of a sun. I saw his head loll to the side, and his left arm that had been cradling his right arm go limp.

"No," I croaked, my voice hoarse.

She let out a triumphant yell, and she sacrificed her grip on the tree to lunge for me. My leg hit the branch at a sickening angle and I felt the bone break before I hit the ground. She landed a few yards away from me, and quickly closed the distance, her tail slithering like a snake, but her upper body propped up, as she pumped her arms into the ground, like a strange crawling motion. I only had time to roll over onto my left hip, when I felt the sharp pain in my neck. I grabbed a sharp rock that lay not very far from me, and stabbed both of her eyes.

Then I realized Lamia could kind of see without her eyes anyway…

A thunderstorm of hooves rolled over the hill that lead to the forest, and down at the bottom where we all lay. I saw a tall, dark haired boy with a sword. Then I heard the sizzling sound, and the explosion, and the screaming. The boy stooped down, his bright blue eyes almost familiar. I grabbed him by the collar and dragged him down so that his face was close to mine.

"Listen to me," I rasped. "There's a guy, he's blond and… tall. He's hurt. He's at. The pine tree." I couldn't take enough breaths to compensate for all of my talking. The effort to speak alone drained the last bits of energy I had.

He gently removed my hands from his collar, and scooped his arms around me. "Miss," he said in a slight southern accent, "We already checked that area for survivors. Anybody that could get up, did. All of the bodies were dead."

"No, you're wrong. Chiron!"

Chiron clopped over to me. "Alex. He's hurt…"

Chiron shook his head sadly. "Not anymore." He paused as I uttered syllables that didn't form words, or thoughts that were even half complete. "We didn't go through all of the bodies yet, but Alex isn't with the survivors."

The world around me collapsed onto my one puny chest. I felt like Atlas finally said "Screw this," and dumped the weight of the world onto me. My ribs were caving in, and soon they would puncture through my heart and kill me. It wasn't like it hadn't already been broken.


	28. Deliria

The Shadow of the Moon

A Daughter of the Moon Trilogy Novel

Book 1

Chapter 28: Deliria

I was wrapped in a damp blanket, thoughts swirling endlessly through my brain. It was like a mental flashflood. It wouldn't stop.

_Shailene, open your eyes._

I could hear my mother's voice pleading with me.

_Shailene! Open them, now! You're safe! You're alive! Open your eyes! The longer you wait, the harder it will be. Don't let your chance slip away. _

I tried to push the voice away. I didn't want to wake up. I didn't want to see all the dead bodies again. I didn't want to think about who they belonged to. I didn't want to take part in any of it. I wanted it all to breeze over my head. I didn't care if I ever woke up. Why should I? So many lives had been lost. I can remember the guy carrying me in his arms, before sitting me in a bronze coach. The others inside were all bloody and pale too, just like I was. Many looked distraught. Many were crying out the names of loved ones as they passed the various battle spots. Some were hugging the others, rejoicing. They were the lucky ones. They had found the people they cared about. I thought about Meg, and Violet. I wondered if they got out okay. I thought about random people, too. My mind flicked to Troy Hellings, a son of Poseidon I hadn't known very well, but he'd seemed nice enough. I thought about Travis and Connor, Meg's brothers. My mind flipped through endless pictures of half-bloods, and the magical creatures. Alison, Dean, Elena, Penelope, Percy, the girl who'd worked in the armory, Christa, Bella, Amy. My mind was overwhelmed, and my body rolled over onto the side.

I woke up, shivering in the night air. All of the windows of the infirmary had been left open. I sat up in bed, and realized there was a flashlight on the nightstand next to everybody. I grabbed mine, and scanned it across the faces in the room. Closest to the door, was Violet. Her long eyelashes lay fanned out on the high tips of her cheekbones. Her hair looked gnarled and knotty. Next to her lay a boy I didn't recognize, but he was very handsome. Next to him lay Penelope, and sitting beside her in a stuffed arm chair, his head resting on the back of the chair, eyes closed and a peaceful expression on his face. He was holding her hand. He must have been her boyfriend. Next to her was Laurel. _The crazy hippie girl who names trees, _my brain recalled regretfully. I felt bad. She had a huge black eye and maybe fifteen stitches that extended from her ear down in the direction of her mouth, but not coming close to reaching it. Next to her was a girl whose blue eyes startled me when I saw that they were open. Her auburn hair flashed like a flame in the beam. I fumbled with the flashlight, turning it off, feeling heat spread to my cheeks.

"Sorry," I mumbled.

"It's okay." The gentleness in her voice caught me off guard. "By the way, Meg's okay, she's over there," the moonlight illuminated a trembling hand that reached out, caressing the dark. Her splinted finger pointed to a heavily breathing figure. I flicked the flashlight on and Meg lay in the spotlight, looking pained even in her sleep. Christa's arm retreated back into her frail looking body.

"How are you holding up?" she asked, her voice sounding tired and strained.

"I'm fine. What about you?"

She shrugged. "Okay, I guess."

I nodded. "That's good," I whispered. "These aren't…_all _of the survivors…are they?"

I heard the rustling of her hair moving on her pillow. I could just make out the shape of her head moving from side to side. "Of course not. The whole Big House is full of them."

I sighed, a trembling, shaky breath.

I drew my hands to my face, and held them there. Alex. His name reverberated throughout the cavity where my brain was, hitting off it, pounding into my skull, and back into my brain. Over and over again. I swore I could hear him laughing, feel the warmth of his smile again.

_Alex._

I lowered my hands, slowly praying I would see him again when I lowered them. As expected, her wasn't there. I felt the tears roll down my cheeks.

"I'm sorry," I heard a whisper next to me. I never expected that to come from Christa. I wonder if the wind whistled into the room, and made it sound like that. I didn't say anything for a bit, and I heard her clear her throat, and saw her squirm under the covers, as if battling for warmth.

"You don't have to accept…"

"Oh, no. It's not that. I just wasn't sure if I heard you say anything or not. I'm sorry, too."

"Can we just forget it ever happened?"

_Alex._

"Sure."

"Er, okay then. I'm going to pass out, so…I'm just gonna get some sleep."

"Okay," I said quietly. "Me too."

"Okay."

It may not have been the most interesting conversation of my life, but it did mean something to me.

_Alex._

I wondered if it was some sort of freaky sign. If it was a last wish of Alex's that we make amends. I wonder if that's why she did it...

I shook my head, trying to erase the thoughts of him like an Etch-A-Sketch. I didn't want the memories right now. Not even the good ones. Every image of him that clicked into my brain, like a slideshow, was more painful than the next.

When I first met him.

When we started the quest.

When we were at breakfast at the hotel.

When he healed Ryan's poisonous injections.

When we went to the lake.

When he went after Ryan.

When he kissed me.

….When he said goodbye for the last time.

I drew the sheets closer to my body, hoping to obtain some warmth. I felt like I was a canoli shell, and every time I took a breath, someone shoved another spoonful of cream down my throat. It was clammy, and weird. It was like the canoli filling slowly drained all of the warmth from my body. I felt bloated and weird, like my head was overstuffed, and my thoughts were being cruelly suffocated.

I rolled onto my side, paying attention to the rising and falling of my chest to distract me. I focused on this for a pure five minutes, and it still did nothing to stop me from hurling into a fit of choking sobs that kept me up almost all night.

**(**

I woke up the next morning to a lot of movement. Too _much _movement. There were replacements being done, people being discharged. Violet was let go, and Christa was moved to a room where less serious injuries were treated. Evidently she was doing better.

The girl next to me was taken out in a wheelchair, to go to another room, a private one. She'd contracted some weird sort of sickness. After they cleaned the sheets, they brought in someone new on a stretcher. The nurses were talking about how he had gotten worse, and needed to be transferred. I saw a flash of blond hair, and clenched my eyes shut. I was becoming delirious for sure.

A new set of sobs that were hacking away at me exploded over my body. I felt a warm hand running over my back. I swatted the person away, but they came back.

"Shay?"

I twisted my neck over my shoulder and saw Alex in the bed next to me. He smiled as if he hadn't seen me in forever. Our beds were really close, and I leapt out of mine, and settled on his.

"Oh my gods!" I seized him by the neck, and kissed his forehead over and over again. "They said you didn't make it! That you weren't with any survivors…"

"I left to look for you, but I couldn't find you!"

"Lamia attacked me…She showed me this awful image….I was sure you'd died!"

He smiled a little. "Well, I didn't."

He lifted his blanket, and I settled under it, feeling cold already.

I smacked him on the shoulder, after my initial shock wore away.

"What'd I do?" His voice was weak.

"Don't _ever _do something stupid like that again! You scared the hell out of me!" I said half-crying half-laughing from relief.

He smiled and put an arm around me. "I won't."

"Yes you will."

"I know."

I shook my head, still smiling, and drew my arms into myself. For the first time I noticed how bad he looked. His skin looked sallow, dark circles forming under his eyes. He had a huge cut on his bottom lip that made his whole lip swell. He had a huge gash on his left arm, and he had a neck brace on. He was hooked up to a ton of machines, and I had a hard time looking at him. He had oxygen tubes in his nose, and each inhale came out a sharp exhale, as though it was hurting him too much to breathe. His chest rose up and down with shaky breaths that started fumbling over each other, and an avalanche of coughs shaking his body.

I propped myself up, and tilted my head, looking down as the coughs grew more and more violent., but he laid my head back down. "I'm fine. Get some rest."

I closed my eyes, and fell asleep with him stroking my hair softly. His kissed my cheek softly, and I felt a tear drop land on my face right before I fell asleep.


	29. Lipstick Love Letter

The Shadow of the Moon

A Daughter of the Moon Trilogy Novel

Book 1

Chapter 29: Lipstick Love Letter

I woke up, and I could see the scarlet light of sunset winking in through the gauzy curtains. The brilliant light set the bland white walls on fire. I could feel heat radiating from Alex onto me. I was almost positive he had a fever. I looked at his face, and he looked beautiful, bathed in the fiery glow of the sun. His hair looked like liquid amber, and it gave his face a flush of color that almost looked unfamiliar as to how I'd seen him before. The dark, purple circles stood out harshly against the light, stubbornly. He was facing away from me, but his arm was still wrapped around my shoulder as if to tell me he was still alert and protecting me. His chest was still pumping up and down, but only occasionally did it hesitate, now. He was burning up, though. I brought my hand that was as far away from him as possible, and I brought it to his forehead. The fierce heat from his skin mingled with my icy, blunt skin, and I drew back, my hand now warm where it had touched him. I didn't want to think about how high his fever was. Couldn't they just give him some nectar and be done with it? Force ambrosia down his throat, for Zeus' sake!

I brought the blankets up to my shoulder again, and wrapped my arm around him too. His chest felt hard and stony compared to the softness of his hands and touch whenever he would rub my back, or brush the hair out of my face. I closed my eyes, letting my breaths falls into step, harmonically with his. I opened my eyes, and the first thing I saw was that the room was almost empty now. Penelope had left, the girl to the right of my bed, the one who replaced Christa, had left, and only a few people remained. The beeping of Alex's machines broke me out of my trance. I realized that it was him and I, and four other people in here. One was a pretty girl I didn't recognize with flowing black hair, and a beauty mark on her left cheek. Two beds down from her was the girl who had answered the door at the Apollo cabin the other morning, when I went to see Alex before the battle. A huge bruise wrestled with the beauty from the left side of her face. It had consumed her temple, and a bit of her forehead, and had extended to below her eye.

They were on the right wall, where the door from the hallway was. One the same wall as Alex and I, the wall that faced the doors leading to the deck was only one person. The handsome boy I vaguely recognized last night. I was pretty sure he was a year older, but I couldn't swear to it. One the last wall was another girl I didn't recognize. I smiled to myself when I realized it was Meg's old bed. She must have been moved too. Or let go, even better.

My head was pounding. I had just realized that for the first time. I pushed it aside, and focused on Alex's machines again, but involuntarily. A terrible realization flashed before my closed eyes, and I realized he was the only one who was hooked up to anything. Did that mean something _bad? _Obviously the machines weren't good, but the girl in Meg's old bed looked horrible, like she had literally been beaten to a pulp. I felt terrible, and felt worse when I realized if _she _wasn't connected to anything, and she looked that bad, what that must mean for him. I wondered for the first time if he was in danger of dying. I felt a pang of guilt for not thinking about that sooner, but the bliss of seeing him alive and breathing pleased me enough, as it was.

I pull back the covers, and slowly stand up. My one ankle feels strained, and I remember hurting my ankle when I fell on it. I hop over to the front of the bed to where his medical chart was. Fragments of sentences screamed from the constraining, shallow depths of the paper.

_Three broken ribs._

_Broken finger._

_Sprained ankle. _

_Stiff neck, difficulty in moving it. _

_Heart beat slower than normal. _

I looked back at him, a dryness creeping up my throat and engulfing my tongue. A sick, clammy feeling jolted in my stomach when I remembered his fever and breathing on top of all of this. He had an IV in the crook of his elbow, and I was willing to bet anything he had some huge ass painkillers that were even enabling him to sleep now. I tiptoed around the bed and crawled back into it. I felt something shift, and soon I felt the pressure of his head resting on mine. I closed my eyes, and felt something graze my cheek after a minute. I opened them, and found his eyes locked on mine, his hand resting on my shoulder. His eyes were glassy, but most definitely locked on me.

"Hey," I said in the softest voice I could manage to make audible.

A small smile crept across his lips. "Hey."

"How are you feeling?" I asked, but then regretted it in case there was a negative answer. I reassured myself I wanted to know, but felt the dip in my stomach when he parted his lips to speak.

"Honestly? I feel like crap." He laughed softly. "I _will _be okay, though." He started running his hand up and down my upper arm. He paused and then let it slide down to my clenched hand. I took his, almost physically jumping from the heat.

"Do you need anything?" I asked, trying to penetrate the glassy barrier that separated his eyes from mine.

He shook his head 'no.' "I have you, and that's more than enough." He brought his face closer to mine, and I leaned in to kiss him. The center of his lips were slightly cracked, but the outsides were as soft as ever. Somehow, I felt like that gave me reassurance that he would heal. He tried to move around, but I saw the look of pain that flashed across his face.

"What about you? Are you okay?" His voice becomes strong and forceful despite his weak condition.

I nod. "As long as you're okay, I'm fine." I lay my head back down on his shoulder.

"Eh, I'm fine. Nothing too bad…"

"I read your chart." I blurt out before I can activate my filter to stop the words.

I look up at him, and he's looking at me with a small smile on his face.

Busted. "Alright, alright. I don't feel as bad as I sound."

I give him the look. (Yeah, _that _one…We've all gotten it before.)

"I swear."

I sigh, not believing him one bit.

"I'm just as stubborn as you are," he says, laughing.

I snort. _Doubt it…_

"Well, I am.."

I roll my eyes. "If you didn't have three broken ribs, I'd punch you." I say, insinuating _again _that he can't lie about the shape he's in to me.

"Fine. Take your shot when I'm out of the infirmary."

"See? You _aren't _okay."

"Only because you said I'm not." He has a strict poker face on, and shows no indication of humor on his face, but I know he's being his usual wise ass self.

"Loser," I grumble.

He smiles at me and kisses the top of my head. "Did you notice Meg was released when you were snooping-"

"_Reading…"_

"…_Snooping _through my medical papers?"

I give him the eye, but he just laughs it off again. His smile amazes me like I've just seen it for the first time. It's bright and pure and I could bask in the warmth of it all day, and do nothing else, and be perfectly happy.

"Yes, I noticed. I wasn't sure if she was moved or left, but I knew she wasn't here…"

"Nah, she got to leave. She's okay. She came by, but you were still sleeping."

I zone out at those words, and instantly feel guilty.

"She said she'd come tomorrow if you weren't out by then."

I nod, feeling slightly better. "Okay."

The light in the room is dimming slightly, and I know the sun is probably only just hovering above the horizon now.

A girl in a bleak white dress and white flats comes through the door. Her blond, silky hair is French braided away from her face, but right where the braid meets the nape of her neck, a ribbon is tied around the hair forming a ponytail.

"Excuse me?"

Alex and I both tear ourselves away form each other and look at her. Her heart shaped face and smooth skin are calming, but her eyes are a bright, strange shade of turquoise I've never seen in my life. "Are you Shailene?" My mouth sounds clunky on as it stumbles off of her tongue and into the air around us. I nod, and I can feel myself trembling. Alex's arms tense around me.

"Well, you're free to go. We came in to release you earlier, but you were both still sleeping."

I peel back the covers, shuddering as I hit the cool air. I place both feet on the ground, and forget that I hurt my right ankle. I almost collapse instantaneously. Alex leaps over to the side, and clasps my arms, steadying my upper body, and with my free hand, I grab the sides of the bed I woke up in what feels like ages ago.

"I'll get you some crutches," the girl turns crisply on her heel and walks out of the room.

"I'm fine," I say when I realized Alex still hasn't released his death grip on me. He slowly lets go, as if afraid to, as if I'll crumble into a thousand pieces and his holding onto me is the only hope I'll say intact, whole. But eventually he does let go, and to no surprise I don't shatter and spread across the floor.

The girl returns, and gives me the riding boots I wore to wear for now. I wear just a sock on my right foot, and grab the crutches, with the right boot laced between two of my fingers on my right hand. "I'll get you some more painkillers, now," and leaves again.

I hobble back over to him and replace the blankets to where they had been before I had gotten out. He puts a hand around my neck, and pulls me closer. He kisses me. "Try and get some sleep, okay?"

I nod, lacing my fingers around the hand that lay on top of his chest. I hold it for a second longer, and give him one last kiss one the cheek. He tries to sit up a little, but I press him back down onto the mattress. "I can bend."

He rolls his eyes, and kisses the hand I'd been holding. His lips leave my skin, and for a second, they are white. I blink once and the color had been restored. Once was all it took to delete the sign of the impact of his injuries from sight.

I hobble out of the room on my crutches, and work my way down the hallway. I slowly descend the stairs, before I make it to the next landing. I hear an awful shrieking noise, and then a door opens, and a crying girl is being pushed out, but a gruff looking male healer. He blocks her body from going any further toward the door. "She's my _sister!" _She wails as she repeatedly hit's the healer, but he doesn't listen.

Through the crack in the door I hear voices whispering. "Just when we thought she was getting better…," and "What a shame," trickle into my ears. "We should probably bring her to the morgue now." The door opens more, and I press myself against the wall to make room, sliding toward the hysterical girl, and the detached guy. A girl with sleek red hair pulled into a pony tail and sharp cheekbones emerges, followed by a much shorter girl with a caramel colored bob and many beauty marks on her face, neck, and arms. In-between them is the unmistakable gurney, and on it is a limp body, who's pretty blue eyes stare ahead, as if staring into me, even though the look is spacey.

My heart skips a bit when I recognize the square jaw and the auburn hair. Something flutters out of the sheets her ankles are twisted in, and I stoop to pick it up. I call out, but they have already wheeled Christa around the corner and out of sight. I stoop to pick it up. It's a crinkled napkin, which I unfold and straighten out. In a pretty plum colored lipstick in a loopy, pretty script, five words break my heart:

Tell Alex I Love Him.

I turn to the male healer, and hand it to him. "Christa McBride dropped this. Can you give it to Alex Jameson for me, please? He's upstairs in the infirmary." He nods, releasing the girl who only sinks to her knees, and heading back up stairs. I suddenly feel like the walls are threatening to squish me. I can't stay inside anymore. At the end of the hallway, I emerge onto the second level of the wraparound deck. I face the cabins, seeing mine glowing distinctly, calling me home. I hear a strange, wheezing sound from above, and I lean over and see Alex there, not looking at me. Not on any machines, either. The same machines that were keeping him alive and helping him breathe.

His eyes are squeezed shut. I say his name, and he looks at me. He turns and walks inside. I scramble up the side of the deck, but when I get up there, he is gone. The doors of the infirmary shut, curtains drawn entirely, now. I can still feel his presence though, and I know I only just missed him. But I read the message that rings out loud and clear with the bolted doors. The wind bites at me as I head back toward the valley, toward the cabins, toward my nice warm bed that is awaiting me with open arms.


	30. Arrangements

The Shadow of the Moon

A Daughter of the Moon Trilogy Novel

Book 1

Chapter 30: Arrangements

I woke up the next morning, dazed and feeling puffy. I was laying in a new bunk, the mess from when Meg slept over still perfectly…messy. I hadn't bothered to clean it up, just collapsed in the center of it. I swept the covers away, and tried my best to clean it up. I made my way into the bathroom and changed into a pair of shorts and my Camp Half-Blood signature orange tee. My ankle was wrapped, and I slowly edged it into my Converse. I put on the matching shoe, and sat down on one of the bottom bunks. I took a book I had been reading from my backpack, but I couldn't concentrate on the jumbled words for more than a minute. I rolled over onto my stomach and stared up at the ceiling.

I wanted to go see Alex, but a sickening feeling in my stomach told me he didn't want to see me right now. I thought about those few words I'd seen on Christa's napkin over and over again.

_Tell Alex I Love Him._

I wanted to shake my head clear of the pretty, loopy words that were being scrawled, permanently etched into my brain. Every time I closed my eyes for more than ten seconds, they consumed my eye lids until they were all that I saw.

I thought about how Alex must feel. I realized I could at least go see how he was. If he wanted to talk to me, fine. If not, so be it. But I knew I wasn't going to trek all the way up the hill to the Big House and up three floors to be told no that easily.

**(**

The normally five minute trek lasted about ten. I reached the infirmary and felt my stomach drop through the floor. I couldn't bring myself to knock. It's like being hauled away on a long road trip you don't want to go on, because you don't want to reach your destination for some reason. You relish the time you have until you reach it, and then when you get there, you're butt is warm on the car seat, and the squishy leather is embracing you. You know you have to rip the Band-Aid, but it doesn't make you want to do it anymore. I knock, finally, and a pretty healer opens the door. She has platinum blond hair that stops a little past her shoulders, and her light blue eyes shined into mine. "H-hi. Um, is Alex Jameson here?" She shook her head 'no.' My breath caught in my throat.

"He got switched to a private room. He's not doing too good. Follow me." She spoke in short sentences, as if afraid to say too much. I did as I was told, and she lead me down that hallway, and then down another one to the left, which was flooded with sunlight through the curtained windows. The right side of the hallway was facing the east, and was lined entirely with windows the whole way down. The carpet and walls were a soft beige color, but they didn't totally match. The carpet was a bit darker than the walls, but was the same hue of cream.

The healer stopped in front of the third door on the left wall of the hallway. It was probably the third out of about seven. I took a deep breath, and when she opened the door for me before walking away. I rounded the corner of the doorway, and the breath was knocked out of me. Alex looked a lot worse now then he did even a few days ago. The cut on his lip and the dark circles around his eyes were about the only things that improved. Now, he had a purple bruise on his right cheek right under his eye, an enormous bruise in the crook of his elbow where the IV machine was still faithfully pumping medicine into him. His eyes were focused on the ceiling, but he looked like he was going in and out. His breathing is worse now- if possible - and he looks like he's almost ready to pass out.

I can't leave him. I already know that. The fact that he's alone makes me feel sick. Looking at him also almost makes me sick. I'm not disgusted by his appearance, but a swooping feeling engulfs my stomach- like a daredevil hummingbird aiming for the ground at top speed, but changing its mind last second, and pulling back up into the sky again, doing cartwheels in the process. He's on death's door, and I know that any doubts of staying are unthinkable, but I still can't force myself through the open door. He finally sees me. I edge through the doorway, and feel myself getting ready to cry.

_I can't do this…_

_You _have _too!_

_I care about him too much. I don't want to see him like this._

_Get a grip. He'll be heartbroken if you leave him! How could you do that? _

_I can't…_

I force a smile. "Hi," I say simply.

"Shay," he extends his hand toward me, so I close the door, and walk forward to take it. I settle into the plushy armchair next to him. Those beautiful blue eyes are drifting lazily around the room like he doesn't know where to look; like he can't remember how to keep your eyes on one object and think at the same time. I just sit, and hold his hand, which is next to limp in mine. "Are you tired?" I ask softly. I don't know how else to break the silence. I'd do anything to see him like he was even yesterday. Anything but this.

"Yeah," he nods his head.

"You can sleep if you want. I'll stay right here."

"No." That one word is so forceful by itself, but his meek voice sells him out.

"Okay. Can I get you anything?"

"No." His lack of conversation scares me. Yesterday, he was his normal self- chatting away, not shutting up actually… but now I would give anything to have that back.

He rubs his hand around mine, and even though his hands are losing strength, he takes his hand from mine, and holds it in his. He rubs his thumb thoughtfully along the little bend on mine. "Don't look so sad."

I start a little. That's the most he's spoken to me since I've gotten here.

"Sorry." I can't think of anything else to say.

"It's fine, but it's depressing," he smiles softly. Whatever he's one must be starting to wear off a little bit. He takes his hand from mine, and reaches for my shoulder. He pulls me closer to him, and wraps his other arm around me. _He's lost weight, _I think immediately.

"Are you eating?" I pull away from him, and force my gaze to harden. I don't want to be mean, but if he's not eating, that'll only make things worse.

"Here and there."

I raise an eyebrow.

"Sometimes."

More silence passes. We blink at each other.

"If I can." he finishes with a sigh.

I nod, satisfied that he's being honest with me. "Why don't you have some nectar or ambrosia?"

"It's too sweet. I can't really hold it down."

"There's got to be something they can do for you."

He shrugs, and reaches for my hand again. I feel tears welling up in my eyes, but I try and force them back. I hate crying. I hate the sticky feeling on your cheeks. I hate the way they blur your vision. I hate control it.

Which is why I hate crying in front of people.

"Shhh," he reaches for me, and forces himself to sit up. I momentarily forget I had been crying because I'm shocked he was able to. His expression hasn't changed, and even though he's still fixed on me, I can see a hint of pride in his eyes.

_I'm not done yet, _they say.

"Please don't cry," he croaks.

I shake my head, vigorously. I won't. I refuse to. He's been strong for me since the beginning. It's time I did that for him. I meet his gaze again. Alex, my rock is crumbling away. Christa died, his family hasn't visited- I can't even imagine how many must have died… I'm all there is, really. I lean in and kiss his forehead. "I'm okay," I whisper. "Don't worry about me."

He gives a small, fleeting…laugh?… "Not gonna happen." He kisses my lips quickly. The structured softness that had always been there is gone now. Every part of him is feeble, and ready to break off. I know how hard he is fighting.

"Has anybody been to visit you?" I dare to whisper. I hope someone has, because if not, I'll storm the Apollo cabin…

He nods. "My sister, Cassie, Meg, my brother Landon…Troy, from the Poseidon cabin- he's a really good friend of mine. We go way back…" he trails off gently, as though reminiscing. "I haven't been alone, babe."

That's the first time he's ever called me that. I can't help but smile. "Good." He smiles back. He's much more alert than he was before, but his body is badly battered, and he looks so broken…

"Friday…" he starts to talk, but cuts of with a sigh. I part my lips, not sure what I'm going to say, but he cuts me off again. "Friday, we're having a service," he says softly. "For Christa. A lot of the bodies were cremated. A lot of the half-bloods prefer that," his voice is barely audible now. "Christa always wanted to be buried." Tears strangle his beautiful blue irises, but he picks back up again. "Will you go for me? In case I still can't?"

I nod softly. "Yeah, I'll go." I'm still gripping onto his hand. "Anything you want me to do…you know, while I'm there?"

He reaches over, and pulls something from underneath my pillowcase, and tucks it into my hand.

The coarse, lumpy, papery texture makes my throat go dry. It's a napkin. I can see the purple writing, but the letters are jumbled in my head. From my dyslexia, or emotion, I don't know.

"Put that in her coffin for me," he says hoarsely. "Can you go to my cabin and get something for me?"

I nod, jumping up from my seat. "Of course."

"Ask for Cassie when you get there. Introduce yourself quickly-she'll know who you are," he adds. "Ask where the closet is, and there's a pink bag in the corner on a shelf. Bring it back to me, please?" His voice lilts like he's asking a question. I nod, and kiss him on the cheek again. As soon as I pull away, he pulls me back in and kisses me for a while. He pulls away, and inhales an labored breath. "I'll see you later?" he asks, hopeful.

I nod quickly. "I'll be back whenever I can. Tonight, tomorrow, you name it. Hang in there, okay?"

He kisses my hand, before letting me go.

"Thanks, Shay."

I nod, my throat's closing tightly. I leave the room, and weave my way to the main stairs again. I sprint across the fields, strawberries blurring past me, and a few cabin until I reach #9. I knock hurriedly.

A girl about my height, but a lot tanner opens the door. "Can I…help you?" I'm panting uncontrollably.

"Yeah. Is Cassie here?"

Her face doesn't change. "I'm Cassie."

"Alex sent me, I'm Shailene." I throw in, remembering his instructions. She nods tersely, but opens the door, kindly. "Come on in."

I step into the cabin. Thankfully, hardly anyone has noticed me. Some people are still asleep despite the fact that it's almost 11 o'clock. "He said there's something in the closet he wants me to get for him," I say, praying my voice didn't just crack on that last part, and I'm imagining things.

She looks at me skeptically. "In the closet?" She asks, pointing to the door. I shrug. "Yeah, something in a turquoise bag…?" I wait to see if a bell rings in her head. Her stormy blue eyes are still fixed on mine. They are a strange mixture of blue and gray, swirling and frothing together, like a lighter, slightly bluer version of waves in the winter. The light reflecting off of them resembles the white caps and all. I've never seen anything like them before in my life. People tell me _my _eyes are interesting…

She opens the closet, still eyeing me as though I'm going to do something freakish- like grab the collection of shoes and start juggling them, or start doing cartwheels in a consecutive circle. I see the bag he means, and I reach for it. I decide not to open it. He'll tell me what is anyway, I'm sure.

"I'll come with you," Cassie offers. "I've been meaning to see Alex again…" she trails off, throwing on a pair of flip flops. She's wearing a flowy, lacey, gray tank top that compliments her eyes and contrasts her hair perfectly. Her blond hair cascades down her back in loose curls. She had pouty lips, and an angular cupid's bow. We walk in silence, and creep up the stairs to the secluded hallway where he is again. I hear a calm, female voice, and a terse male one. Both are gradually growing louder.

"No." I hear Alex croak.

I open the door, and Alex's face is stormy. He and the healer he was glaring at turn to face me and Cassie. The healer has flaming red hair, and celery green eyes. She gives Alex a nasty look before storming out the door, muttering something about stubborn patients. He shakes his head.

"What happened?" I ask handing him the bag.

"She wanted to give me more drugs, but I said no. It's nothing," he waves his hand dismissively, and takes the bag from me. "Thank you," he says softly.

"No problem."

He takes a black box out o the bag and opens it up. There's a gorgeous gold charm bracelet, laced with charms that are part silver, and part gold. He thumbs it quietly. "I was going to give this to her on her birthday." He says thoughtfully, more so to himself then to me. "It would have been another week or two. August 14th…"

I rub his shoulder, quietly. I'm secretly grateful the red-haired girl didn't make him all loopy and dazed on me again. It was unbearable before.

He sighs softly and puts the bag in the top drawer of the small nightstand next to him. His bed is in the back left corner of the small room. There's hardly any furniture in here. I sit down on the edge of the bed, before I hear a piercing, raspy voice coming from the hallway.

"He. Won't. _Listen!" _The girl shrieked. The red head stomps back in, glaring at Alex, and a pretty brunette is behind her, trying to calm her down. She has sharp, prominent eyebrows, and she's short- maybe just about 5 feet- a few inches shorter than the fuming girl. "Ruby," she says in a scalding tone. "Calm down." She pushes past the fuming girl, whose unruly hair looks like it's on fire. She sighs, seeing Alex, and then turns to me and Cassie. "I'm going to have to ask you both to leave," she says crossing her arms over her chest defiantly. Cassie and I look at each other, but neither of us budge.

"Come on," she grabs Cassie's arm, but Cassie bats her away. "Keep your hands off of me, Michelle," she says through gritted teeth.

The brunette rolls her eyes. "Get out." Ruby tries to seize me from behind, but I whack her away, too. She back up and hit the edge of Alex's bed and falls on her butt on the mattress. She forces her way back up, grabbing onto my hair.

"Get off of her!" Alex yells.

I grab a fistful of hers, and start to twist her other bony arm which is grasped around my left hand- the one tangled in her own hair. She yelps in surrender, and lets go for only a second, before the other hand is trying to pin my flailing one behind my back. I knee her in the chest. Clearly pissed, she turns around and replaces the bag of fluid on Alex's IV machine.

"Stop!"

But it's too late. The drugs will make him drowsy in a matter of minutes. Cassie has pried the brunette off of her, and Ruby takes a threatening step towards me. I take one toward her, and Alex surprises me by taking my hand.

"Please don't go," he says softly. It distracts me enough for Carrot-Top to rip him off of me, and shove me out the door. Cassie's right behind me. "Bitch," she grumbles and takes off.

I stand up. I shudder. Ruby had such a tight, clammy, bony grip, I feel like I need to sanitize my arm. Just for good measure, I pound my fist on the door, before walking away. I find myself fuming, and decide to go for a walk to try and calm down. Blind with fury, I head into the woods, not even noticing where I'm going. I find myself walking the path to the beach, and climb the rocks where Alex and I kissed. The sun is bright on my face, and I start to sweat instantly. I think about him, and our first kiss, and I break down. I pull my knees to my chest, and start to cry.


	31. Final Goodbyes

The Shadow of the Moon

A Daughter of the Moon Trilogy Novel

Book 1

Chapter 31: Final Goodbyes

I wandered through the day barely paying attention. I didn't go back to visit Alex that night because I got in another fight with Ruby on the way… So I got kicked out…

I stayed in bed almost the whole day the day after that, though. Meg came by the cabin, but I didn't even bother to get up. That was around noon. I slept for about 4 hours, and then took a shower and got dressed. I saw Cassie walking up toward the Big House with a pair of clothes. They must have been for Alex. I decided I could go later, then. I felt weird interrupting Cassie and Alex. Sibling time was going to be a lot different than the time he and I spent together. I'd rather have time alone with him, and I was sure that Cassie would probably want that, too.

I looked for ways to waste my day. I practiced a bit at the archery range, but the wind was being stubborn, and I didn't feel like calculating how to aim around it, so I gave up on that. I walked down to the beach for a bit, but I started thinking about Alex, and then I felt guilty for not visiting him. I promised myself I would go after dinner. I could maybe sneak him a little food if he was up to it. I didn't know what he got served under the care of the infirmary. I thought of hospital food and cringed. Alex would love me if I brought him a bit of steak. Maybe a little salad, too. That definitely couldn't hurt him.

After that, I went to check on Alex and just make sure he was okay. He was asleep, but the rattling of his chest and stopped, and he seemed peaceful- a look on his face I hadn't seen in days. Coloring was being restored to his face, and the circles underneath his eyes were almost non-existent. Even the bruise on his face was starting to mellow. I felt better about coming after dinner, now.

Meg and I watched another movie in my room. We watched Life As We Know It, which was an adorable movie with Katherine Heigl and Josh Duhamel.

Dinner came around, and I barely ate any of my pizza. I just wasn't up to it. Christa's funeral was tomorrow, and I had nothing to wear. Yesterday, there had been a ton of funerals- none for any people I really knew. I felt funny going. They were held in various spots before the few bodies were replanted in the orchard. I stopped by the Dionysus cabin, which had stone work covering the wood and vines of grapes covering it. Violet opened the door.

"Hey," I stepped inside when she moved over to let me in. "Do you have anything black for me to wear?"

Violet considered this. "Hang on." She walked over to the closet, and pulled out a skimpy, tight-looking black dress.

"I'm going to Christa's funeral…That might be a little…"

"Too sexy?"

"Yeah…"

"Do you want a dress, or…? Are you looking for a shirt or pants, or…"

When I didn't answer right away, she huffed. "Give me something to work with, Shailene!" She said with a smile.

I laughed. "A dress would be easier, I guess. And a little more formal." She nodded. She pulled out a black halter dress with a loose ruffle around the otherwise flat neckline. It had a seam that ran under where my chest would fill it in, and then it flowed loosely to about…mid-lower thigh for me?

"Ooh, that's pretty," I ran my hands over the soft fabric.

"Ya like it?" Violet asked, with a smile.

"Yeah, it's pretty."

"'Kay, now shoes.." Violet said scanning the closet after she handed me the dress.

"Oh, I don't need shoes…" But I just had time to catch a pair of sandals headed my way. I caught them. The had a leather sole, and black laces that were supposed to tie around my ankles. Sort of like gladiator sandals.

"Yeah, you do. What are you going to wear, your Converses?" She teased. I shrugged. I didn't know what I was planning on wearing, honestly.

"See?" Violet said with a smirk.

I rolled my eyes at her, and she cracked her gum. "Thanks, Vi,"

"Yup."

"I'll see you later?"

"Okay."

I left the cabin and deposited my stuff at my cabin. Took a small tub of salad, and grab a few different dressing packets. A Demeter girl gave me a plastic bag, along with a plastic fork and a few slices of bread. I headed off to the Big House, and crept in the back door, and up the stairs. I reached the hallway, and turned the knob slowly. Alex was sitting up in bed, putting a shirt over his head. It ruffled his hair, so he gently shook it back into place. He had taken his neck brace off for a few seconds. He got out of bed- slowly- when he saw me. I rushed over to him and threw my arms around his shoulders, trying to avoid his unprotected neck. He started to rub my back, and held his lips to the top of my head. He laughed a little. "I told you I'd be fine."

I squeezed him tighter. He groaned softly. "Sorry!" I stepped back, but he pulled me closer to him. "Don't be." He kissed me, before taking my hand as he headed back to bed. He put the neck brace on, and climbed into bed. I sat at the foot of his bed. "Are you hungry?" His eyes widened immediately. "Do you have food?"

I smiled, and handed over the bag. "Don't get too excited, it's just some salad and bread…"

"Whatever it is! They won't let me eat yet, but I feel well enough to eat."

"That's stupid," I scoff.

"Stupid to you, outright insane to me! I haven't eaten real food in like three days!"

I hand it over, and he tears into it.

"You certainly seem to be feeling better…" I tease.

He nods. "I think I'm going to be able to go tomorrow," he says softly.

"Take it easy, though. Don't force yourself."

He nods. "No, I think I'll be okay. Really." He scoots forward and wraps his arms around me. "I feel a lot better. I've been able to keep down some ambrosia." He kisses me. "You don't have to go if you don't want to."

I shake my head. "No, I'll go."

"Thanks for coming now," he whispered.

I smile. "You're quite welcome."

"…And the food…"

I swat him with a pillow and he laughs. "Hey, go easy on the patient!"

"I thought you were feeling better?"

" Why would you think that?"

"'Cause you just told me…"

"What do I know? I could be drugged right now…"

I roll my eyes. "Don't make me hit you again."

He pins my arms to my sides by wrapping his arms around me from behind. He's still got some strength to gain back in his arms- it's not even _close _to where it used to be- but he's definitely stronger. I twist around and wrap my arms around him. "I missed you."

"What do you mean?"

"At times, it felt like you were already gone." I'm shocked I allowed those words to leave my lips, but I'm sort of glad they did. It feels like the weight that has slowly been pressing on my lungs since I woke up after the battle has dissipated, leaving my lungs free again.

"I felt that that at times too. I was so drowsy, _I _wasn't even here at times…"

"I was so scared."

"You don't have to be."

"How do you know?"

He tilts his head down, and I lift my head up to meet his eyes. "Because I'd never leave you," he says softly. He kisses me, and I can't describe it other than how it felt like the _real _Alex was back. Not the loopy, zombie version that drifted in and out of consciousness from time to time, but _him- _in the flesh. _My _Alex. His lips weren't icy and cracked any more, but soft and warm like they'd always been. I felt protected again by his strong arms, and the warmth his body radiated onto mine. I sat there, my arms wrapped around him, and his arms wrapped around me, and for the first time in days, I felt safe.

**(**

I left Alex after I made sure he didn't need anything else, and then double checked, and then triple. He gave me a good night kiss, and I headed back to my cabin. I fell asleep easily, cocooned in a silver duvet. The morning rays tickled my eyelids instead of beaming through them like they so often do. I woke up, and dressed in a tank top and shorts with my Converse, before stealing a plastic container filled with scrambled eggs for Alex. I hurry up to his room, and give them to him in exchange for the salad container. The service starts in about 2 hours, so I drop the salad dish off at the kitchen, quickly thanking the daughter of Demeter who let me borrow it. I hurry off to take a shower.

I rush into my cabin and start tearing off my tank top as soon as I get in the door. If I want my hair to dry, I know I'll have to get in, and get out- fast. I resist the urge to sing to cut time, and only take a few minutes. I search for a strapless bra in my bag, and find one- to much relief- in the very bottom. I quickly throw on the dress and wrap my hair up in my towel. It hits right about where I guessed it would. I debate with the clock if I'll have enough time for makeup, but I decide I do. I apply some concealer, and lip balm. I use a little bit of power, first over the areas to which I applied concealer, and then just decided to lightly dust it all over my face. I put on a soft pink lipstick that's barely noticeable, and then a clear, glittery lip gloss over it. Sweep a little bit of light brown eye shadow over my eyelids, and put a slightly darker color in my crease. Satisfied, I check the time. I brush my hair and throw on the shoes before checking it again. I still have a bit to kill, so I pick up a book, but I can barely focus.

I look out my window, and I see Alex limping into the forest. I see a few people going the same way, so I follow. I'm just about to leave the cabin when I remember what Alex asked me to do. I jog a bit, even, because my legs are free in the dress. I catch up with Alex, who is in front of the procession. He's actually carrying one of the handles on Christa's open casket. He's keeping a steady pace, despite the fact that he's limping, and I know how much it must be hurting him right now. He's wearing a black button down shirt that hangs loosely over his simple black pants, and black shoes. His blond hair is a shock of color in what looks like a pillar of ash and smoke. His shoulders are squared, and he doesn't rest until we reach a clearing, no- a garden. Up front is a flat square slab of elevated stone that is probably supposed to be an altar of some sort. The six guys rest Christa on the altar.

I run up behind Alex and put my hand on his shoulder. He was carrying the part that was closest to her face. He hasn't moved since. All I can see is her profile from the right. Her long eyelashes are spread across the tips of her cheeks. Her lips are pink, and her hair is curled, framing her face. She's wearing a sea green dress that has dark turquoise beads across the same type of seam line my dress has. The dress has spaghetti straps, and silver beading that is more concentrated near the turquoise beads than diffuses outward on either side. Her hair was braided over her shoulder, pieces by her temples flowing toward her shoulders artfully, placed in the just the right spots. A slight, silver ribbon trailed through the braid. I wrapped my arms around Alex, and I could feel him choking into the crook of my neck, trying not to cry.

"No one's going to think any less of you, if you cry," I murmur into his ear. The breaths become little gasps, and I take him by the arm. We sit up front, and Chiron appears, wearing a blue button down-shirt over his torso. He seats himself in his magical wheelchair, concealing his hind legs as he does, and a pair of tan slacks appear, complete with a pair of nice leather shoes. willow trees and magnolias line the spacey clearing, taking up a lot of room.

Chiron gives a small eulogy, followed by the girl who was hysterical the day Christa died. Alex's muscles tense up, and I know he wants to say something.

"Go," I urge him gently. "You have something you want to say," I tell him. "Go." He nods, patting his hand softly on my knee before standing up. He adjusts the silky silver tie around his neck.

"Um…" He surveys the crowd, pausing to look at the ground occasionally. "I'm good at this, just saying." He clears his throat and starts again, fixing his eyes on me, now. "A lot of people thought they knew Christa when they really didn't. She had a reputation she couldn't help. I'm not bad-mouthing any Olympians, and getting myself in trouble here, but there were reasons for her being who she was. But not everybody _knew _who she was- not entirely. She had a soft side. She was great with kids and always said she wanted to be a teacher. She was a nurturing older sister, and a great friend. She loved with all she had whether the person loved her or not. I think that's one of the main things that really attracted me to her and gave me the nerve to ask her out…"

"…She would help anybody no matter what kind of situation she herself was in. She would die in a heartbeat for the ones she loved, or even more simply, just the ones she cared about. She had many layers to her, like an exoskeleton. The softest layers were the layers closest to her, closest to her heart. She had confided in me, that she knew she had a strong personality, but that she wished people wouldn't hate her for it. That's the least I can do for her now. That's the least _you _can do for her now. She died in battle, protecting camp, protecting, me and all of you. Granted, other people did too, but she deserves just as much respect as everyone else who did, does. She deserves to be remembered the way she was. She didn't really have any last wishes, I guess. Well, one, but…" He trails off, and shoves his left hand in his pocket, where I know the napkin is. His eyes have grown stronger, scanning the crowd instead of glancing at me more than anyone else.

"…Let's just say that's a private one. Pretend her last wish was what she said to me- to be thought of as someone who really was caring. If you knew that she had a good core, and good intentions, remember those. If you didn't, then you didn't know _her, _so think of it like that; like it was someone you didn't know. Because you didn't. I don't care who you are, or what you think. Listen to what I'm telling you now. May she rest in peace, and may her memory live on forever." He turns around, and places the folded napkin in her left hand, which is holding a small bouquet of lilies, along with her right hand. The same hand that belongs to the same wrist that is wearing the delicate charm bracelet he picked out for her. He leans over and kisses her cheek, before sitting back down. Chiron says the final words, and Alex limps up to her coffin, and prepares to lift it, along with the other five men. We walk a little through the clearing and in the very corner, there is a grave dug at the foot of a well-groomed willow tree. Alex closes the casket, and she is lowered into the embracing arms of the quiet earth.

Alex wanders back over to me, and the group is throwing roses on her casket before we all go to eat. I toss on mine- a light pink, and back away from the edge, feeling like I'm going to get sucked in. It's a childish thought, I know, but the unnerving feeling of what were to happen takes control of me and I back away. Everyone else has left, but I hang back, watching Alex's every move, ready if he needs me.

"I got your note," he says softly, so softly I can barely hear him. "And I love you, too." With the tiniest of sighs, he tosses his blood red rose onto the silver casket. It stands out amongst the pale pink and white.

I approach him slowly, taking my time. The black and gold marble grave marker has already been placed in-between the top of the grave, and the last sprawling roots of the tree.

Christa Rachel McBride

August 14th, 1997 - August 2nd 2011

Loving Daughter, sister and friend

You will never be forgotten

Alex's face is stony and impassive, but his eyes are filled with hurt. I rest my head on his shoulder, wrapping my right arm around him, again. He turns to me, and I can see the tears welling in his eyes. He sinks to the ground, pulling me with him. I let him hold me, and embrace him in return, allowing him to let out the tears he's kept bottled and unshed for days.


	32. A Love Written In The Stars

The Shadow of the Moon

A Daughter of the Moon Trilogy Novel

Book 1

Chapter 32: A Love Written In The Stars

I sigh watching the sun set over the tops of the trees of the forest, knowing that tomorrow, I will have to leave camp. I will have to leave, Meg, and Violet, and my cabin, and Chiron and…

Alex.

I'll have to leave Alex. I pray that he has a Skype account. It's been a little over 2 weeks since Christa's funeral. Alex had been absent for huge chunks of the day at a time in the beginning, solemnly guarding Christa's grave. Or at least I assumed. I didn't feel close enough to her to make the trip every time. We agreed to meet in that clearing tonight for a date. The first _actual _date we've ever had. Alex insists on surprising me, though. He won't tell me what to expect. I grab my backpack, and dump all of it's contents onto my bed, taking with me a hoodie, bug spray, a bottle of water, and flip flops in case my feet get too hot in my Converse sneakers. I head toward the spot, not paying attention to where I'm going because the route has already been programmed in my mind.

In just a few minutes time, I hear rustling in the bushes, and someone's hands clamp over my eyes tightly. I draw a breath, preparing for the worst, but I hear a musical laugh instead. "It's supposed to be a surprise, remember?" He spins me around and kisses me.

"I think I've had enough surprises now that you almost gave me a heart attack. He laughs again, and I can picture his luminous smile lighting up through the canopy of trees that is mostly dark except for the freckles of pale orange light that had dappled the grungy forest floor. He keeps one hand firmly over my eyes, and the other guiding me, wrapped around my shoulders, making me feel safe.

"Open!"

I do, and I have the breath knocked out of me almost instantly. The clearing is lit up with tiki torches, and there's a blue and white checkered blanket, along with a picnic and a telescope. I gasp, the breath coming back again.

"Do you like it?" He asks wrapping his arms around me from behind. I nod, in awe.

**(**

An hour later, we've eaten all the food, and we are stretched on the blanket, our limbs entangled with one another's, completely forgetting which leg was Alex's and which arm was Shailene's. His steady breathing lurches me into a surge of gratefulness that he's even beside me this very moment. He right arm is wrapped around my neck loosely, caressing my right cheek, the one that wasn't resting against his chest. The stars are burning brilliantly, and the tiki torches are beginning to look like a wax volcano. The magnificent candles have wilted into droopy outer shells along their wicks. Crickets chirp harmoniously, and the golden glow casts gorgeous shadows across our faces and bronze tans that were well earned from all of the time we spent outside this summer.

Alex opens his mouth as if he's going to talk but then seals his lips as quickly as he had opened them.

"What?"

"Promise me you'll stay in touch throughout the year. It could be a while before I see you…"

"Of course. What else?"

He laughs at my uncanny ability to read him. "I don't know if I'll be able to see you for your birthday…"

I smile, relieved. "It's fine. As long as you make sure to video chat me on my birthday, so I know you haven't forgotten me _entirely," _I tease.

His face grows serious.

"I'm _kidding! _I know you wont forget me!"

He doesn't look too sure, but accepts this answer. "I got you something ahead of time."

I bolt upright, surprised. My birthday is November 19th. How could he have possibly gotten me something already?

"You didn't have to…"

He dismisses me lightly with a wave of his hand. He sit up, and hands me a box. I open it to find a certificate of some sort. I skim through the words, absorbing the major concepts.

"You didn't."

His grin grows across his entire face.

"You _didn't!" _

He named a star after me. He gets to his feet, and helps me up. "It's not visible just yet…" he explains, reaching into his own backpack and producing a chart. "It's visible in November…" he says softly. "Your star's next to the constellation Andromeda."

I throw my arms around his neck. "I can't believe you did that for me!"

He smiles, patting my back gently.

I pull away, trying to muster the straightest face I can. "I have a very important question."

"Yes?"

"Did you name it Shay, or Shailene?"

"What do you think?" he asks with a smirk, and wraps his arms around me kissing me. He scoops me up, and sets me back down on the blanket, where we lay kissing again.

"What'd you bring the telescope for, then?"

"I was thinking I could share more astronomy-slash-mythology stories with you, using the telescope, but I can probably just point them out to you like I did last time. Besides, I don't feel like getting up, do you?"

I smile. "No."

Laying where we are, not caring to move an inch, I get lost in the dreamy haze of the candles while he whispers the stories to me softly. His warm, tender voice, along with the crickets and the slight rustling of the summer's breeze through the leafy ceiling of the forest combine and blend together harmoniously.

Alex's light touch on my arms, my face and my jaw are the only things keeping me awake, and from slipping into what would no doubt be a gorgeous dream, with the symphony of the night music playing nearby. But the truth is, I'd rather be awake then dreaming right now, because according to Dr. Seuss, "You know you're in love when you can't fall asleep because reality is finally better than your dreams."

**(**

~ Fin ~

**(**


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